The Hindu Business Line : Banking majors hit new 52-week highs

Weak job and manufacturing data kept US stocks in the red for the second consecutive week. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.8 per cent each while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 2.1 per cent. But the domestic market was unaffected by global happenings. The BSE Sensex jumped 2.65 per cent, thanks to strong foreign institutional inflow. The NSE’s S&P CNX Nifty closed higher by 2.51 per cent.

Indian ADRs continued to be in the limelight at the US bourses. As many as five counters – Dr. Reddy’s Lab, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Sterlite Industries and Wipro – have registered their new year-highs.

Reddy’s fall

However, Dr. Reddy’s Lab, which registered its 52-week high at $20.88, slumped sharply to end at $18.9 against the previous week close of $20.5 – a fall of 7.8 per cent.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd has recalled citalopram, fexofenadine, pravastatin and risperidone tablets in certain strengths from US market, following concerns on the size and proportion of these pills, which were found to be above the stipulated size.

This recall is being conducted with the knowledge of the US Food and Drug Administration, the company said, and added that there would be no financial impact from the recall.

Among the banks, ICICI Bank was the star performer with a gain of 7.6 per cent; HDFC Bank moved up by 0.76 per cent.

Wipro was the biggest gainer by 6.8 per cent among the IT majors; Infosys improved by 2.59 per cent while Patni Computer flared up by 3 per cent. General Electric last week announced merging of all its standalone businesses and manufacturing plants in the healthcare segment in India into its joint venture Wipro – Wipro GE Healthcare.

Infosys is scheduled to announce its 2nd quarter number on October 9.

Losers

Mahindra Satyam (erstwhile Satyam Computer), however, ended on negative note at $6.21 ($6.23).

Tata Motors, which announced a 6 per cent growth in vehicle sales number for September, slumped by 4.5 per cent.

The other counters that closed on negative note were Sify (3.98 per cent) and Rediff.com (8.9 per cent).

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