The Hindu Business Line : Narrow movement for Indian counters

During last week, the S&P 500 lost 1.4 per cent to 1,035.28 and according to Bloomberg, it was the largest drop since September 26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 1.4 per cent to 9,628.53, its first consecutive weekly decline since March. The drop was steeper for the Nasdaq, which fell by 1.9 per cent for the week to 1,893.88.

Buying during the latter part of the week by institutions, both local and foreign, helped the market to arrest the downward slide. The BSE Sensex, which fell to an intra-week low of 4,736.70, ended the week at 4,838.54, a drop of 1.5 per cent; the National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty fell by 1.41 per cent to close at 1,540.70.

It was a lacklustre performance from the Indian ADRs during the week, as most counters closed around the previous week's closing levels.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd announced that Eisai, a global pharmaceutical major, had filed a lawsuit against it in an US district court, alleging that it had infringed on one of its patents.

The Eisai action was in response to Dr Reddy's application in the US Food and Drug Administration for rabeprazole sodium delayed-release tablets 20 mg. Amid these developments, the counter closed at $26.79 against the previous week's close of $27.70.

Infosys Technologies and VSNL were the biggest losers during the week; Infosys closed lower at $78.09 ($82.92). Earlier this month, the counter had registered a new 52-week high; ever since, it has been on the downward slope.

However, the other tech majors, Satyam and Wipro, finished the week on a flat note at $19.44 ($19.74) and $36.41 ($36.20) respectively.

The Government's announcement that it is committed to raising the limit for foreign investment in private sector banks to as much as 74 per cent, from the current 49 per cent, went unheeded at the markets as both ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank closed the week flat. ICICI Bank closed at $12.72 ($12.84) while HDFC Bank finished at $24.54 ($24.27).

Internet counters Rediff.com and Sify were unable to turn the tide with both finishing on a negative note; Rediff.com closed at $5.06 ($5.999) and Sify at $4.31 ($5.03).

On the premium front, the Infosys ADR premium fell by over 10 percentage points to 52.94 per cent compared to the previous weekend premium of 63.41 per cent.

On the other hand, ICICI Bank was able to improve its premium to 23.82 per cent from 18.99 per cent. However, there were no changes in the premium/discount of other counters with respect to their underlying equities.

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