MTNL slumps 11%; banks fall

The US markets fell last week amid unease in West Asia. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its second loss in 13 weeks and closed down 2.1 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1.7 per cent and the tech-focussed Nasdaq lost 1.9 per cent.

Global tension, surging inflation and FIIs selling rattled Indian stock markets last week, which also saw F&O settlement. The BSE Sensex and the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty tumbled 2.8 per cent each.

Except Wipro Technologies, most of the ADR ended the weak negative. MTNL was the biggest loser, as the ADR slumped to $1.84 ($2.07), a fall of 11.11 per cent.

After the introduction of mobile number portability, MTNL's subscriber base declined by 5,869 customers.

Rate hike

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank — which increased their lending rates by up to 50 basis points, making home, auto and commercial loans dearer — slipped 4.82 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively to close the week at $145.91 ($153.31) and $43.88 ($45.57). ICICI Bank also increased deposit rates by up to 50 basis points across various maturities.

The ADR of Infosys Technologies slipped 2.92 per cent at $67.34 ($67.37), while Patni Computer edged down 2.47 per cent at $19.68 ($20.18).

The Income-Tax Department has slapped a tax demand of over Rs 450 crore on software major Infosys Technologies for wrongfully claiming tax exemption on onshore services by declaring them as software exports.

Meanwhile, an American employee of Infosys has filed a case against the company accusing it of visa and tax fraud.

In his complaint filed before an Alabama Court early this week, Mr Jack Palmer said he worked for Infosys ‘as a Principal — Enterprise Solutions' since August 2008.

He alleged that Infosys sent lower level and unskilled foreigners to the US to work in full-time positions at its customer sites in direct violation of immigration laws.

The ADR of Satyam Computer tumbled 4.12 per cent to close at $2.7325 ($2.85) while that of Wipro closed marginally higher at $13.28 ($13.26).

The ADR of Tata Motors dipped marginally to close at $30.15 ($30.17), even as Tata Communications slipped 0.63 per cent at $9.35 ($9.41).

Internet majors Rediff.com and Sify maintained the downtrend and slipped 5.8 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively.