The Hindu Business Line : MTNL, ICICI Bank in limelight

THE US stocks fell last week on concern over oil prices following the OPEC's decision to cut oil production. Eastman Kodak also aided the fall after the company cut its dividend for the first time.

The tech-focused Nasdaq dropped six per cent last week, the S&P-500 shed 3.8 per cent and the Dow Jones slipped 3.4 per cent. According to Bloomberg, for Nasdaq it was the biggest weekly decline since April 2002 while for the S&P-500 and the Dow, it was a major fall in at least six months.

In contrast, the domestic markets surged, backed by foreign funds; the BSE Sensitive Index advanced 3.9 per cent and the NSE 4.7 per cent.

Among the ADRs, ICICI Bank and MTNL stole the limelight. ICICI Bank in fact registered its 52-week high at $10.75 and closed the week sharply higher at $10.55 as against the previous week's close of $9.51.

MTNL closed the week at $5.19 ($4.88) after the Group of Ministers hiked the foreign investment limit in Indian telecom companies to 74 per cent from 49 per cent.

Besides, MTNL and other phone companies were permitted to acquire competitors in the same service area, according to the recommendations by a Group of Ministers on telecommunications.

The tech counters ended on a mixed note. While Infosys Technologies at $67.84 ($69.22) and Satyam Computer at $12.66 ($13.10) ended the week on a weak note, Wipro closed in a positive territory at $29.35 ($28.91).

Infosys said that it had won an order from Kenya's ABC Bank for Finacle, its banking software product, which will be installed across all branches of the bank.

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