The Hindu Business Line : Indian counters lag benchmark indices

THE US Federal Reserve's pronouncements that it may soon end a series of interest-rate hikes seemed to have infused positive sentiment for the US markets as the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched up its best winning streak in more than a year.

The Dow added 1.5 per cent this week; the S&P-500 and the Nasdaq jumped 1.6 per cent. According to Bloomberg, it was the fifth straight week gains for S&P-500 and the Dow, while for Nasdaq its sixth weekly advance.

In the domestic market, the benchmarks created history when they touched all-time high levels on the back of FII buying. The BSE Sensex registered a high of 8912.12 points, before ending at a new historic high of 8889.03 with a gain of 2.33 per cent; the NSE Nifty witnessed similar feat by gaining 2.4 per cent.

However, the Indian ADRs did not match the gains obtained by the US or Indian markets; the average return posted by the Indian ADRs was just 1.37 per cent. While most ADRs finished flat, ICICI Bank and Infosys finished weak. Even Satyam, which notched up its new 52-week high at $36.55, finished flat at $36.09 ($36.06).

However, Dr. Reddy's Lab, MTNL, Tata Motors and VSNL closed firm, particularly the latter recording a sharp gain of 5.75 per cent. VSNL seemed to have climbed on reports that it will invest more than $230 million in South Africa.

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