Reliance, SBI GDRs up

ADR/GDR REPORT

The Instanex Skindia DR Index (ISDI) was down 0.34 per cent to 809.41 in early morning trades on June 25, 2004 in the western markets. Among ISDI global depository receipts, three advanced and three lost ground. The gainers were Reliance (up 3.28 per cent to $20.14, registering volumes of 46,801 GDRs), State Bank of India (up 0.73 per cent to $20.65 with volumes of 47,660) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.36 per cent to $19.77).

The losers were Hindalco (down 1.20 per cent to $20.50), Ranbaxy (down 0.76 per cent to $19.65 registering volume of 5,600 GDRs) and ITC (down 0.25 per cent to $19.70 registering volume of 10,757 GDRs).

The ISDI, which represents ADRs and GDRs of 15 actively traded companies, closed up 0.52 per cent to 806.48 on the previous day and was trading at a price to earnings multiple of 14.85 (up by 0.83 per cent).

Among the ISDI ADRs, five advanced and three lost ground. Among ISDI GDRs and ADRs, there were eight gainers, six losers and one ruled steady.

The major gainers were VSNL (up 4.96 per cent to $6.77 registering a volume of 2,03,500 ADRs), Satyam Computers (up 1.67 per cent to $18.25 registering volume of 176,100 ADRs) and Wipro (up 0.78 per cent to $45.25 registering volume of 26,800 ADRs).

The losers were MTNL (down 4.09 per cent to $6.56 registering volumes of 3,67,000 ADRs), Dr Reddy's (down 2.65 per cent to $16.89 registering volumes of 4,77,200 ADRs) and ICICI Bank (down 0.33 per cent to $11.93 registering volumes of 4,46,700 ADRs).

The GDR of Reliance shot up to $19.4874 ($18.60) while the GDR of Hindalco fell to $20.50 ($20.75).

Meanwhile, US stocks headed for a weekly gain amid optimism that the economy will hold up even as the Federal Reserve next week begins the first in a series of interest rate increases.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.84, or less than 0.1 per cent, to 1141.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.46 to 10,447.27 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 3.05, or 0.2 percent, to 2018.62.

For the week, the S&P 500 has risen 0.6 percent and is headed for its fourth gain in five weeks. The Dow has risen 0.3 percent and may notch its fifth straight weekly advance. The Nasdaq has climbed 1.7 percent.

In Asia the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3 percent to 11,780.40. The Topix added 0.3 percent to 1172.44. Morgan Stanley Capital International's Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 900 stocks in the region, fell 0.1 percent to 91.52. The MSCI and Japanese benchmarks advanced for the second week in three.

South Korea's Kospi index jumped five percent this week, the biggest weekly gain since the five days ended Oct. 10. All benchmarks in the region rose, except for those in Australia, China and Malaysia.