Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Nov 25, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Nov 25, 2002 |
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Markets
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Commentary Columns - ADR Watch IT counters make merry K.S. Badri Narayanan
THE upward momentum was unabated during last week both at the US and the Indian stock markets following the better than expected Hewlett-Packard's earnings report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its seventh straight weekly gain, the longest streak in more than four years. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed for the sixth week in succession. The Dow jumped 2.6 per cent last week to 8804.84 as compared the previous week close of 8579.09. The S&P-500 advanced 2.3 per cent to 930.55 (909.83) and the tech-focussed Nasdaq 4.1 per cent to 1468.74 (1411.14). The Dow has recovered 21 per cent and the S&P 500 20 per cent since October 9, when they registered their five-year lows. Led by Reliance Industries and infotech stocks, the Indian bourses too registered impressive gains. The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive index (Sensex) climbed 3.55 per cent to 3141.61 (3033.91) and the National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty by 2.95 per cent to 1020.15 (990.85). Moving to ADRs, the Infosys counter continued to its run to register its new 52-week high at $86.83. The ADR, however, closed slightly lower at $84.20 ($72.71), a whopping gain of 15.80 per cent last week. Backed by institutions, the Infosys stock also surged; the stock gained 6.65 per cent to Rs 4,619 (Rs 4,330.80). Other infotech majors — Satyam Computer and Wipro — also enjoyed bull run as they closed at $12.37 ($12.18) and $3.96 ($3.85) respectively. ICICI Bank also scored noteworthy gains on the bourses. The passage of Securitisation Bill in the Lok Sabha sparked an instant interest in the counter. ICICI Bank finished firm at $6.04 ($5.19) while the stock ended higher at Rs 195.50 (Rs 192.65). HDFC Bank, however, continued to tread downwards as it ended at $12.21 ($12.64). In fact, the counter registered its new yearly low of $12.16 during last week. Another significant gainer was MTNL, which ended at $4.27 ($3.90) following the agreement it reached with VSNL over the overseas call, which had been dragging for more than six months. VSNL also finished on a firm note at $3.96 ($3.85) though the stock finished on a flat note at Rs 95.95 (Rs 95.85). Internet counters — Satyam Infoway and rediff.com — also enjoyed the firm trend. Sify closed the week at $2.03 ($1.219) and rediff at $.70 ($.379). The premium for the ICICI Bank and Infosys ADRs (to the respective underlying stocks) jumped. While ICICI Bank now trades at a premium of 13.32 per cent (4.15 per cent), Infosys trades at 75.70 per cent (61.85 per cent). The other counters, however, maintained the premium/discount around previous week level.
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