The Hindu Business Line : Sify tumbles 50% in a week

The S&P 500 fell 8.4 per cent to 800.03. It closed on November 20 at 752.44 which, according to Bloomberg, was the lowest since April 1997. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 5.3 per cent while the tech-focussed Nasdaq plummeted 8.8 per cent.

The situation was no better in the domestic bourses. Continuous selling by foreign institutional investors inflicted sharp falls. The BSE Sensex tumbled 5.01 per cent and the NSE’s S&P CNX Nifty lost 4.16 per cent.

The sharp fall pushed most Indian ADRs below October lows. Among them were HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer and Wipro Technologies.

Net fall

Sify fell almost 50 per cent (49.51 per cent to be precise) last week to end at $0.52 against the previous week close of $1.03. The other Internet major, Rediff.com, tumbled 16.9 per cent at $1.91 ($2.3).

Tata Communications was the other biggest loser, as its ADR crashed by 24.65 per cent at $14.52 ($19.27). Last week, the company announced that Mr Rajiv Dhar, Chits Financial Officer, has resigned with effect from November 28.

Banking majors ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank witnessed a steep fall of 16 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, as expectations of rate cut and other stimulus package from Reserve Bank of India did not happen. Marketmen were of the hopes that RBI might cut rates following moderation in inflation.

Among the IT majors, Satyam Computer was the worst affected as its ADR declined by 10 per cent. Infosys Technologies weakened by 7.11 per cent, Wipro weakened by 8.34 per cent while Patni Computer slipped by 4.7 per cent. Though the weakening rupee is welcome news for software majors, slowdown in the US is affecting the sentiment for these counters.

All these stocks recorded their fresh 52-week lows last week.

Tata Motors fell 4.97 per cent at $3.82 ($4.02). Media reports has it that Jaguar Land Rover, which Tatas took over earlier this year, is in secret talks with the British Government for a £1-billion loan.

Sterlite Industries finished almost flat at $4.41 ($4.44) as the metal markets saw some kinds of stability in the LME market.

However, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories finished the week on firm note; its ADR climbed 2.71 per cent at $8.32 ($8.1).

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