The Hindu Business Line : ICICI Bank, VSNL hit 52-week high

BRAVING the terrorist attack in London and the surging oil price, the US benchmarks scored handsome gains on the back of positive reports such as growth in employment, factory orders and the services industry.

The S&P-500 advanced 1.5 per cent to 1211.86 last week while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.4 per cent to 10,449.14. The gain was even sharper for the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index, which added 2.7 per cent to 2112.88.

For the domestic markets, the continuous foreign institutional investors' support aided largely. On the back of their support, the BSE Sensex scaled historic peaks before ending the week almost flat at 7112.08 against the previous week close of 7210.77 due to profit-taking. In the process, it touched an all-time peak of 7308.72 on July 5. The NSE's S&P CNX Nifty, however, slipped 0.7 per cent to 2196.20.

The firm trend in the US markets helped the Indian ADRs to finish on firm note. In fact, the ADRs of VSNL and ICICI Bank have touched new 52-week high.

VSNL has been on the rise ever since it announced completion of its acquisition of the Tyco Global Network (TGN), undersea cable network that spans 60,000 kms (37,280 miles) and the continents of North America, Europe and Asia. With the acquisition of TGN, VSNL is now one of the world's largest providers of submarine cable bandwidth. VSNL acquired the network for $130 million.

The counter closed at $12.25 against the previous week close of $11.44 after touching a 52-week high of $12.39 during intra-week.

After hitting a 52-week high of $24.36, ICICI Bank ended at $24.29 ($22).

The other banking counter HDFC Bank also surged to $49.78 ($48.79) on reports that it may set up a non-banking finance company to increase lending to companies.

Among the IT counters, Infosys and Wipro finished on a firm note while Satyam ended flat. Infosys Technologies will announce its first quarter financial performance on Tuesday (July 12).

The Wipro counter, which faced a minor pressure when Mr Vivek Paul (Vice-Chairman) announced his quitting from the company, finished firm at $21.19 ($20.58) on reports that the company plans to spend as much as $1 billion to partner a private equity buyout fund to acquire the information technology division of a US company.

Tata Motors, which said that its vehicle sales in June rose 9.4 per cent, gained three per cent to $10 ($9.70).

However, Internet counters - Sify and Rediff.com - have closed on a negative note at $4.83 ($4.86) and $7.32 ($7.44) respectively.

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