The Hindu Business Line : Most counters end weak

FEARS that the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates on the back of stronger-than-expected job report seemed to have affected the sentiment for the US equities. As a result, the S&P's 500 index and Nasdaq Composite Index posted their first weekly drops since June 24, according to Bloomberg data.

For the week, the S&P 500 declined 0.6 per cent to 1226.42; the Nasdaq fell 0.3 per cent to 2177.91, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.8 per cent to 10,558.03.

But for the domestic markets, there was no stopping of bull rally. During the week, the BSE Sensex set new records on the day-to-day basis and even hit an all-time intra-trade high of 7843.77 before ending the week at a new peak of 7754 - a net gain of 1.55 per cent.

The NSE's S&P CNX Nifty also surged 2.07 per cent to close at 2361.20.

However, the Indian ADRs seemed to followed the US market trend as most of them ended the week in negative territory.

However, Dr. Reddy's Lab, Tata Motors and VSNL closed on firm note while Infosys inched up marginally.

Dr. Reddy's Lab finished higher at $19.03 against the previous week close of $18.91 after it said that it had received approval from the USFDA to sell 150 and 300-mg dosages of the anti-ulcer drug ranitidine in the US.

VSNL maintained its run to hit another new 52-week high at $19.94 before settling for the week at $19.75 ($19.6) despite sedate Q1 performance; its net profit stood flat at Rs 127 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 against the previous's year corresponding figure of Rs 126.8 crore.

However, despite reporting a 21-per cent surge in its net profit in Q1, ICICI Bank could not hold on to gains, probably due to the sharp run up in its price; the ADR slipped to $23.75 ($25.5) after hitting a 52-week high at $26.68 during intra-week.

MTNL slipped to $7.43 ($7.9) after it reported a 26-per cent drop in net profit for the quarter ended June 30.

Satyam, Wipro and Infosys also fell from intra-week highs even though Satyam registered its new year week high at $30.6.

However, on the premium/discount front, most of the counters are ruling around the previous week levels.

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