VSNL, Infosys Star Performers

Equity markets continued their winning streak last week across the globe.

The US stocks rose after employment growth eased concern that mortgage losses will cause a recession.

The S&P 500 rose two per cent last week to 1,557.59, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2 per cent while the tech-focussed Nasdaq flared up 2.9 per cent.

Thanks to continued faith of foreign institutional investors, the Indian bourses witnessed sharp surge though during the later part of the week they saw high volatility.

The BSE Sensex hit an all-time high of 17,979.18, before settling the week at 17,773.36 with a gain of 2.79 per cent.

The NSE’s S&P CNX Nifty gained 3.28 per cent.

Indian ADRs also witnessed a sharp surge. Except Patni Computers and Rediff.com, all other other ADRs finished on a positive note. Among them the star performers were VSNL and IT majors - Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer and Wipro.

Despite the firm rupee, IT stocks recovered on the back expectations of better quarterly performance.

Infosys, which gained 8.35 per cent, is scheduled to announce its Q2 and half-yearly numbers on October 11. More than its financial performance announcements, investors keenly watch their guidance which could set the trend for the other IT majors.

The resilient US economy data also seemed to have aided sentiment for IT counters.

HDFC Bank hit another record level during this week at $111, before settling at $110.95, a gain of 3.6 per cent over the week, and the other banking counter, ICICI Bank gained 1.36 per cent.

Though the banking ADRs gained in the US bourses their underlying equity on the BSE dipped week-on-week, which resulted in higher premium for the ADRs.

The ADRs of Wipro, which gained 5.33 per cent and Satyam Computer, which gained 6.33 per cent, now command a higher premium of 30.12 per cent and 22.18 per cent respectively.

After witnessing sharp gains in recent times, Rediff.com finished 0.22 per cent lower at $17.81. However, Sify, the other listed Internet major, closed the week at $8.73 with a gain of 2.73 per cent.