What worried the US markets more than Japan's earthquake was the Labour Department's report of rise in jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.03 per cent and the S&P-500 slipped 1.28 per cent while the tech-focussed Nasdaq slumped 2.48 per cent.

Domestic markets too ended negative following weak IIP data and firm crude oil price. The BSE Sensex edged down 1.69 per cent and the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty by 1.68 per cent.

The Indian ADRs ended the week with mild swings. The week's biggest gainer was Mahindra Satyam. The erstwhile scam-ridden Satyam Computer surged 4.9 per cent at $3 against the previous week close of $2.86) after the company signed a strategic pact with the US telecom equipment maker Cisco Systems to provide a range of industry-specific offerings in areas that include smart cities, virtual dealership, sports and entertainment and cloud services.

MTNL, whose ADR slumped to an all-time low of 1.82 during the week, jumped 4.3 per cent at $1.94 ($1.8601), despite the PSU telecom major fast losing its customer base, particularly after the introduction of mobile number portability.

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank slipped 2.47 per cent and 0.55 per cent respectively ahead of the crucial monetary policy, which is scheduled for March 17.

It was a mixed show by informational technology counters. Infosys Technology ended a tad lower at $67.55 ($67.67), a fall of 0.18 per cent; Wipro Technologies and Patni Computer edged up 0.82 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively. According to NASSCOM, IT companies that have exposure to Japan are so far unaffected by the natural disaster.

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