GDR index falls by 13.33 pc

Stocks which contributed to the steep fall in the premium index were Himachal Futuristic (168 per cent), Sterlite India (40.90 per cent) and JCT (37.68 per cent). On an average, GDRs declined 5.18 per cent with the Skindia GDR price-earnings ratio falling by 13.42 per cent to touch a low of 17.36 points on May 28. “Foreign investors are keeping away from Indian shares for the time being,” said the manager of a foreign fund, “now much will depend on the budget.”

FIIs were evenselling on the Indian stock markets as well. FIIs pulled out over $ 155 million from Indian bourses in May alone. For the first time in the history of GDR trading, the week ended May 28 saw 24 of the 65 GDRs quoting at their 52 week low. Among these were the GDRs of BSES at $ 13.25, Mahindra & Mahindra at $ 5.75 and VSNL at $ 10.75.

A study conducted by Skindia Finance showed that except Indal, which is currently zooming on the back of stiff competition between Alcan and Sterlite to acquire a stake in the latter, no other industry GDR recorded any gains.

The Indal GDR rose by 29.23 per cent to close at $ 4.20 on May 28, against its previous week’s close of $ 3.25. The other gainer during the week was Videocon International’s GDR which has shot up by 10.29 per cent on account of the open offer made by the Dhoots.

The GDRs of telecom sector were the worst hit by the rupee fall during the initial phase of the week, falling by 9.94 per cent. However, the excellent performance of VSNL saw the GDRs recover byover 7 per cent. Auto and hotel industry GDRs also declined by 8.70 per cent and 8.02 per cent during the week. Among the pivotals, the ITC GDR plunged by 21.65 per cent to close at $ 19.