The Hindu Business Line : VSNL slumps 12%; Wipro major gainer

Taking positive cues from the US Federal Reserve Chairman, Mr Ben Bernanke, the US securities surged sharply; the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its best week since November by gaining 1.5 per cent, while Nasdaq and S&P-500 moved up by 1.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.

However, turbulent conditions prevailed at the domestic markets with the BSE Sensex and the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty recovering part of the gains after a sharp slump during the beginning of last week.

It was a mixed trend for the Indian counters at the US bourses. Wipro was the best among the Indian counters, gaining by about 5 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's, which gained about 4 per cent.

The Chief Strategy Officer of Wipro, Mr Sudip Nandy, said that the company is in talks with as many as 12 companies for a potential acquisition. The likely targets may be linked to the healthcare or travel sectors in the US or in Western Europe, the company's largest markets, Mr Nandy said.

The Bangalore-based computer-services provider will probably reach an agreement for a purchase this quarter and may spend $50 million to $200 million on an acquisition, he said. VSNL was the worst performer losing by over 12 per cent. Among the other worst performers were HDFC Bank (-5.6%), ICICI Bank (-3.35%), and Patni Computer (4.4%) and MTNL (-3.5 per cent).

Banking counters continued to be under pressure on apprehension that the recent rate hike done by them could slow their growth. The other two IT majors - Infosys and Satyam Computer, however, edged up marginally.

On the premium/discount front, there were no major deviations.

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