The Hindu Business Line : Infosys leads fall

IF International Business Machine and Alcoa spoiled the mood for the US markets, it was Infosys Technologies that shook the domestic markets by declaring conservative estimates for the current year.

According to Bloomberg, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its biggest weekly tumble in more than two years. It crashed 3.6 per cent to 10,087.51, its worst weekly performance since March 2003. The S&P 500 dwindled 3.3 per cent to 1142.62 and the Nasdaq slid 4.6 per cent to 1908.15.

The BSE Sensex crashed 3.57 per cent to 6284.34 while the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty tumbled 3.82 per cent to 1956.30

Amidst the ruin, none of the Indian ADRs finished on a positive note. Infosys and Dr. Reddy's were the worst hit. Dr. Reddy's fell to $16.6 ($17.42) after a US court barred it from selling a copy of Eli Lilly & Co's $4.4 billion-a-year schizophrenia drug Zyprexa.

Infosys Technologies crashed to $60.46 against the previous week close of $68.26 after the company announced lower-than-expected earnings guidance for 2005-06. This conservative estimates not only rattled Infosys but also the entire market.

Even HDFC Bank, which declared a 30-per cent surge in Q4 profits to Rs 202 crore against Rs 155 crore in a year-ago period, saw its counter succumbing to the overall sentiment. The ADR closed weak at $41.46 ($43.63).

Tata Motors was the modest loser (just by 1.5 per cent) at $9.55 ($9.70) after it announced the bagging of an order for 10,000 commercial vehicles from Srei Infrastructure Finance.

Not only prices but also ADRs' premium declined sharply. Infosys' ADR now trades only around 35 per cent against the previous week levels of 40.48 per cent.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Mind you, entries and exits do have a price

To gain much, never desire to gain too much

Equities may fall on `risk' notion

Infosys leads fall

April may not record flurry of FII activity

`Ample opportunities for private equity funds'