The Hindu Business Line : ICICI Bank jumps, VSNL slips

IT was a mixed feeling at the US bourses with Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P-500 ending on positive note even as the tech-focussed Nasdaq suffered. Helped by the firmness in energy stocks on account of record oil prices, the DJ Average and the S&P-500 finished a tad better; disappointing forecasts by Cisco and Dell Inc led the decline for the Nasdaq, which slipped one per cent over the week.

The domestic bourses, which began last week on slippery ground, however, recovered during later part of the week to end on a flat note. The BSE Sensex gained 0.17 per cent last week while the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty ended at the same level.

Among the Indian ADRs, ICICI Bank was the star performer. It gained close to 6.5 per cent at $25.75 against the previous week close of $23.75. Its Managing Director, Mr K.V. Kamath announced that the bank will divest its entire stake in Federal Bank and South Indian Bank within two years. Currently, the bank holds around 20.6 per cent in Federal Bank and 11 per cent in the latter. Mr Kamath also said that the bank has worked a strategy to cover the whole of rural India, which the bank sees as a big scope.

HDFC Bank also edged up marginally to $50 ($49.2).

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories announced that it has received an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to sell 150 and 300-milligram dosages of the anti-ulcer drug ranitidine in the US. The ADR gained 0.36 per cent to $19.1 ($19.03).

Tech counters seemed to have suffered on account of weak Nasdaq; Satyam was the biggest loser among them by 3 per cent followed by Infosys (by 0.83 per cent) and Wipro (by 0.2 per cent).

Tata Motors slipped to $11.32 ($11.65) after Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers reported that car sales skid 10.6 per cent in July due to heavy flood in Mumbai.

VSNL, which has been sizzling with rapid pace in recent weeks, was the biggest loser by 7.59 per cent at $18.25 ($19.75) on account of profit-taking.

Internet counters Sify and Rediff.com also flared up with the former gaining 1.72 per cent at $4.71 ($4.63) while the latter 3.5 per cent at $9 ($8.69).

On the premium/discount front, there was not much deviation though ICICI Bank's ADR now commands a higher premium of 8.17 per cent against the previous week figure of 3.25 per cent.

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ICICI Bank jumps, VSNL slips