Nov. 8, 2009 (The Hindu Business Line) --
K.S. Badri Narayanan
US stocks posted handsome gains despite Government figures putting the unemployment rate above 10 per cent. The Labor Department said the jobless rate hit 10.2 per cent in October, the highest in 26 years.
The S&P-500 Index climbed every day this week, rising 3.2 per cent, the Dow average jumped 3.2 per cent and regained the 10K-mark and the tech-focussed Nasdaq added 3.3 per cent.
It was a smart turnaround for the domestic markets too as foreign institutional investors turned buyers. The BSE Sensex jumped 1.65 per cent and the NSE’s S&P CNX Nifty gained 1.79 per cent.
Except for Satyam (NYSE:SAY) Computer and Sify, all the other ADRs closed the week on strong note.
Among the ADRs, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories continued to climb up to register fresh 52-week highs. After registering its new peak at $23.56, the ADR closed at $23 over the previous week’s close of $21.73. The counter has been climbing after the company announced a net profit of Rs 197.06 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, against Rs 91.01 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.
Infosys Technologies finished higher at $47.79 ($46) even as Ms Sudha N. Murty, wife of Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ:INFY) Chairman and Chief Mentor Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, sold 20 lakh Infosys shares worth Rs 430 crore. It may be recalled that Mr Murthy had late last month sold 8 lakh Infosys shares worth Rs 170 crore.
Patni Computer, whose CEO said that the company plans to spend $200-400 million to purchase an IT company, also jumped to finish at $21.08 ($19.25). Wipro closed on a firm note at $18.04 ($17.15).
Banking majors ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) and HDFC Bank (NYSE:HDB) scored handsome gains thanks to the overall positive market sentiment. The former finished at $35.99 ($31.45) and the latter at $120.3 4 ($110.61).
Tata Motors gained 6.7 per cent at $12.15 ($11.38). Thanks to strong surge in LME prices, Sterlite Industries surged 8.1 per cent at $17.05 ($15.77).
Internet counters Rediff.com and Sify moved divergently with the former gaining 5.6 per cent and the latter declining by 0.5 per cent.
