ICICI Bank sees sharp drop

The continuous bear onslaught pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average below the psychological 12,000-mark and the BSE Sensex below 15-K mark.

With the sentiment turning so bearish in both the markets, except MTNL, the other ADRs witnessed steep fall. MTNL announced last week that it has received International Long Distance (ILD) licence from the Department of Telecommunications. The ADR finished 3.79 per cent higher at $ 4.65 against the previous week’s close of $ 4.48.

However, the telecom major, Tata Communications, tumbled sharply by 7.81 per cent. The company posted a drop in net profit at Rs 10 crore (according to Indian GAAP) for the year ended March 31, 2008 against last year’s net profit Rs 15 crore. The company cited appreciation in the Indian rupee against the US dollar as the major reason for the drop in net profit.

The worst performer among the ADRs is ICICI Bank, whose ADR tumbled by 8.53 per cent. HDFC Bank also finished lower by 5.75 per cent. The sharp surge in inflation figure to 11.05 per cent, 13-year high in India — seemed to have weakened the sentiment for the bank counters on fears that the central bank might increase interest rate.

Even IT majors witnessed a sharp fall in their ADR values. While Infosys finished 6.36 per cent lower, Wipro tumbled 7.7 per cent, Satyam Computer 7.69 per cent and Patni Computers by 5.28 per cent.

The ADR of Tata Motors also crashed by 7.8 per cent on fears of hike in interest rate. It may be recalled that the Government last week raised taxes on big cars, multi-utility vehicle and sports utility vehicle by as much as Rs 20,000 per unit, which could affect the sales of companies such as Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors.

Sterlite Industries finished relatively better at $ 17.74 ($18.38), a drop of 3.48 per cent.