Date:22/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/01/22/stories/2007012201660400.htm

Back IT, banking lead decline

K.S. BADRI NARAYANAN

It was a mixed week for the US equities as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose marginally while the S&P-500 ended little changed even as the Nasdaq slipped. On the other hand, momentum continued at the Indian bourses as the BSE Sensex and the NSE's Nifty hit all-time highs.

However, Indian ADRs preferred to follow the Nasdaq trend and most of them declined. Leading the pack were IT and banking counters. HDFC Bank was the biggest loser (3.6 per cent), followed by Satyam Computer (3.38 per cent), whose third quarter results failed to cheer market participants, and Infosys (3.32 per cent).

However, Patni Computers finished with a gain of 1.54 per cent, while Wipro dipped marginally by 0.17 per cent.

ICICI Bank, which announced 42 per cent rise in net profit on Saturday, finished one per cent lower at $44.5 (44.95).

However, VSNL and MTNL bucked the trend and finished on a firm note; VSNL gained 10.4 per cent while MTNL 3.72 per cent.

Premium, which widened last week for most of the counters, saw a dip this week for many counters against their underlying equities.