Date:30/05/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/05/30/stories/2005053001100300.htm

Back Infosys, Wipro gain sharply

K.S. Badri Narayanan

IT was one of the better weeks for the international equities as most of them finished on positive note. For the US stocks, the rally was propelled by computer-related stocks and on Government data showing that the US economy expanded in the first quarter at a faster pace than initially expected. Led by Apple Computer Inc and Intel Corp, the Nasdaq Composite Index scored its fourth straight week gains. The Nasdaq increased 1.4 per cent this week to 2075.73.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent since May 20 to 1198.78, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7 per cent to 10,542.55. According to Bloomberg, both these benchmarks finished higher for the fifth week in six.

Sustained buying by domestic institutions helped Indian market romp home with the BSE Sensex jumping by 3.2 per cent - extending its gaining streak for the fourth consecutive week. The gain was even sharper for the NSE Nifty - over 4 per cent.

Amidst bull carnival, Indian ADRs fared strongly. Leading the pack was IT bellwethers Infosys and Wipro, which have gained 6.25 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. Infy closed the week at $70.5 ($66.35) and Wipro at $21 ($19.46).

Meanwhile, Infosys, which completed its $1.07-billion ADR issue, fixed the price at $67. The sale of the shares in the U.S. increased the number of ADRs to about 14 per cent of the shares outstanding from current 8 per cent.

It also announced that it would open next week a R&D centre with French engineering group Alstom. Details of centre are expected to be announced on May 31

Even pharma counter Dr. Reddy's Lab, which was battered down in recent times, finished on a firm note at $16.89 ($15.85).

Internet counters Rediff.com and Sify finished on a flat note at $6.89 ($6.84) and $4.37 ($4.47) respectively. Rediff.com India posted a net loss of $1.4 million for its financial year ending March 31 - an improvement from its net loss of $5.7 million declared during the previous fiscal year.

Sify announced the launch of www.SifyMax.in, also available on www.SifyMax.com, a complete broadband content site. Internet users in India, irrespective of their broadband access provider, can visit this site or even make this their default home page, to enjoy the full potential of their broadband connection, says the company.