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K.S. Badri Narayanan

A couple of lowered profit forecasts from Lucent Technologies Inc and Honeywell International, expectation of a possible US attack on Iraq and a weakening economy seemed to have affected the sentiment at the US bourses during the week gone by.

As a result, the US benchmark indices fell for a third straight week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.4 per cent to 8312.69 over the previous week's close of 8427.20 and the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent last week to 889.81. The tech-focussed Nasdaq Composite Index, however, gained 0.2 per cent, at 1291.40 after touching an intra-week high of 1347.22.

Back home, the deferment of HPCL/BPCL disinvestments had its negative impact. The Bombay Stock Exchange's (BSE) Sensitive index closed weak at 3098.94 (3141.11) and the National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty finished a shade lower at 992 (995.20). However, the deferment seemed to have driven investors to other sectors such as tech and pharma.

Among the ADRs, Wipro and Dr. Reddy's notched up noticeable gains while the others finished around the previous week's closing levels. Dr. Reddy's closed the week firm at $18.05 ($17.36).

Speculation was thick and fast in the Wipro counter that the company bagged a large order from an American multinational, which triggered a sharp activity. Wipro, however, later clarified that it was a rumour and denied any such order. However, this denial did not deter market fancy around the counter; the Wipro ADR closed firm at $27 ($26) while the underlying stock at Rs 1,310.10 (Rs 1,211.80).

It was a quite week for the other IT majors - Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computer. Infosys closed the week at $57.25 ($57.41) while Satyam at $10.05 ($10.34).

The PSU counter MTNL, however, finished weak at $4.68 ($4.85) and the domestic equity also finished slightly weak at Rs 114.60 (Rs 117.40) probably due to disinvestment concerns.

Another telecom major, VSNL also closed marginally down at $4.84 ($4.87). This was despite VSNL entering a five-year agreement with Shin Satellite of Thailand to jointly provide satellite services to Indian television channels that may generate sales of $5.5 million a year. The tie-up will help Shin retain its clients as they switch to satellite broadcasting from India.

Another counter that witnessed intense activity was ICICI Bank, particularly in the domestic market. The stock attracted a huge block deal of 10 lakh shares on Monday, suggesting some big players were behind the action. (The counter had also witnessed huge block deals on the previous Friday.)

In the meanwhile, confirming the investors' confidence, the CEO, Mr K.V. Kamath, said the bank expects to account for as much as 23 per cent of retail loans in the country by March next year.

"Loans to individuals as the lender have reached Rs 15,000 crore and are increasing by as much as Rs 1,500 crore every month," Mr Kamath said.

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