The Hindu Business Line : Infosys hits yet another 52-wk high

EVEN as the tech-laced Nasdaq ended almost flat at 1915.14, the other key benchmarks - Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 - suffered. Record oil prices coupled with some disappointing financial performances from corporates such as Honeywell International seemed to have affected the sentiment at the US bourses.

For the week, the Dow average dropped 1.8 per cent to 9757.81, a level not seen since November 24. The S&P 500 declined 1.1 per cent to 1095.74. According to Bloomberg data, both these benchmarks rounded off their third week of losses, the longest such retreat since July 23.

However, Nasdaq added 0.2 per cent on the back of gains in semiconductor shares.

The domestic market, which was on the upsurge till recently, displayed a sign of weakness, partly due to profit-bookings besides the oil price concern. The BSE Sensex and the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty gave up 0.81 per cent.

Among the ADRs, Infosys continued its firm trend. It once again breached the year-high record to scale a new height at $66.21 during last week. Ever since it announced second quarter results, the counter has been bullish at the bourses; it ended strong at $65.82 against the previous week close of $60.75. However, on the BSE, it succumbed to the domestic pressure as it ended a tad weak at Rs 1,777.70 (Rs 1,784.5). This divergent trend has widened the premium of the ADR, which is now quoting at a healthy premium of 63.56 per cent (56.12 per cent).

However, Satyam Computer and Wipro closed on weak note at $25.71 ($26.38) and $21.25 ($21.49) respectively. The company announced that it net profit jumped 28 per cent to Rs 189 crore. But it seemed to have slipped after the company said its operating margins would decline because of higher salaries.

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank closed on divergent note with the former falling even as the latter inched up. Both announced an improvement in Q2 profits as an expanding economy spurred consumers and companies to borrow more.

ICICI's net income rose 10.2 per cent to Rs 442 crore (Rs 401 crore) while HDFC Bank's profit jumped 30 per cent to Rs 152 crore (Rs 117 crore).

HDFC Bank also announced that it will raise as much as $300 million by selling American Depository Receipts to boost lending to companies and consumers.

MTNL also gained on reports that DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co and four other advisers are bidding to help the Indian government find ways for State-owned phone companies MTNL and BSNL to work together.

Internet majors Sify and Rediff. Com also finished on a firm note; Rediff's total revenues from continuing operations for the quarter ended September 30, 2004 were $2.9 million, an increase of 29 per cent over the same quarter last year, driven by a 73 per cent growth in India Online revenues to $1.3 million compared to the same quarter last year. Its net loss per ADS reduced to 1.5 cents or $381,000 compared with 5.6 cents or $1.4 million.

Meanwhile, Sify completed its five years of listing on the Nasdaq on October 19.

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