Bajaj Auto GDR up 0.55%

ADR/GDR REPORT

The Instanex Skindia DR Index (ISDI) was up 0.37 per cent to 880.40 on August 3, 2004 in early morning trades in the western markets.

Among ISDI global depository receipts (GDRs), two advanced, one remained unchanged and four lost ground. The gainers were Bajaj Auto, up 0.55 per cent to $18.40, registering volume of 2,000 GDRs and L&T, up 0.12 per cent to $16.90, registering volume of 6,750 GDRs.

The major losers were Hindalco, down 5.67 per cent to $22.31, registering volume of 2,000 GDRs, Reliance, down 1.37 per cent to $21.60, registering volume of 4,400 GDRs and ITC, down 1.12 per cent to $22.00, registering volume of 13,000 GDRs.

The ISDI, which tracks the ADRs and GDRs of 15 actively-traded companies closed up 0.80 per cent to 883.06 on the previous day and it was trading at a price to earnings multiple of 15.83 (up by 0.49 per cent).

Among ISDI ADRs, five advanced and three lost ground. The major gainers were ICICI Bank, up 4.07 per cent to $13.55, registering volume of 448,000 ADRs, VSNL, up 2.03 per cent to $8.03, registering volume of 99,900 ADRs and Infosys, up 1.06 per cent to $50.68.

The losers were MTNL, down 2.78 per cent to $6.64, registering volume of 80,200 ADRs, Wipro, down 0.71 per cent to $15.40, registering volume of 60,400 ADRs and HDFC Bank, down 0.15 per cent to $27.04, registering volume of 90,900 ADRs.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the world, in the US stock-index futures declined as oil rose to a record after Opec said the group may not be able to increase production fast enough to lower prices.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September shed 0.50 points to 1,105. Nasdaq-100 Index futures slipped one point to 1,406.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 9 points to 10,156.

The S&P 500 shed 3.4 per cent in July, the biggest monthly decline in a year and a half, partly on concern that crude's 39 per cent surge in the past year may crimp corporate profits and consumer spending.

Crude oil for September delivery gained as much as 1 per cent to $44.24 a barrel, a record high, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Asia, Japanese stocks fell, led by leading carmakers. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.7 per cent to 11,140.57 at close in Tokyo. The broader Topix index fell 0.8 per cent to 1,127.03.

All other stock benchmarks rose in the region apart from those in China, Malaysia, Thailand, India and the Philippines.

Morgan Stanley Capital International's Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 900 stocks, lost 0.5 per cent to 87.37, the first decline in three days. The Hang Seng Index rose 1.3 per cent, its biggest gain in two weeks, to 12,357.12.