The Hindu Business Line : Infotech counters end weak

US stocks rose to three-year highs, thanks to the gains in semiconductor stocks. Government reports showing that the US economy growing faster-than-expected and an increase consumer spending also aided the US markets to race ahead.

As a result of that The Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to their highest since 2001. While the S&P-500 jumped 1.3 per cent last week, the Dow average added 1.7 percent to 10,827.12 and the tech-focussed Nasdaq Composite flared up 1.2 per cent to 2160.62.

There were no speed-breakers for the domestic markets as they continued their record-breaking spree. On the back of a strong faith by foreign institutional investors, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive index breached the 6500-mark freely; it closed at all-time high levels of 6498.60, a gain of about 2.4 per cent over the previous close. The National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty also closed at an all-time high of 2062.7, gaining 2.5 per cent from last Friday's close.

But for information technology ADRs, most of the others ended last week on a positive note. Infosys Technologies' announcement that it may not be able to sustain profit margins appeared to have affected the mood for these counters.

Infosys, which registered its new 52-week high at $72.46 during intra-week, fell to close at $68.55 against the previous week close of $69.47 after this announcement. Satyam also ended weak at $23.92 ($24); Wipro, however, finished a tad better at $25.4 ($25).

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank maintained their momentum with the former closing firm at $43.07 ($40.25) and the latter at $19.79 ($19.5) despite reports that the UPA Government might delay its plan to lift a 10-per cent cap on voting rights for investors in Indian private banks.

VSNL was the other counter to steal the limelight. It registered a 52-week high of 10.71 but ended a shade lower at $10.57 ($9.95).

Tata Motors also finished better at $11.6 ($11.3) following its joint statement with Phoenix/MG Rover group reiterating their commitment to the City Rover in the UK and European markets. However, reports that DaimlerChrysler AG is seeking the Indian government's permission to sell trucks appeared to have checked the counter. The Stuttgart, Germany-based company wants to introduce its Actros range of trucks and luxury buses in India.

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