MUMBAI, Jan 9: With the capital market starting its new year with a bang, the Indian global depository receipt (GDRs) moved up smartly last week. Expectations of fresh FII inflows, provided the much-needed edge to bull operators.Reflecting the buoyant mood of the GDR market makers, the Skindia GDR Index shot up by 14.57 per cent to close at 647.97 points during the week ended January 7. During the same period, the Skindia GDR price earning index shot up by 62.5 per cent to close at 25.8 points. The rise, according to a senior analyst of Skindia Finance, was based on the expectations that FIIs would bring in fresh funds into the Indian markets during the new year."The bulls came charging into the bourses, both local and GDR," explained the analyst, highlighting this as the main factor for the sharp rise in the GDR indices.During the fortnight, the 60 GDRs on an average gained 10.34 per cent while their underlying stocks gained 14.68 per cent. As the rise in the underlying stocks was higher, theaverage premiums of the 60 GDRs fell to 3.25 per cent on January 7 from 7.95 per cent on December 23, 1998.The Skindia GDR premium index for the week ended January 7 was marked at a low of 19.55 per cent. However, the GDRs of MTNL, VSNL and Ranbaxy Labs continued to be traded at a higher premium against their underlying stocks. While the GDRs of MTNL were traded at a premium of 42.66 per cent against its underlying stock which closed at Rs 193.50 on January 7. Similarly, the GDRs of VSNL were traded a premium of 38.31 per cent.The increased activity on the bourses saw the average spreads of the 37 most actively traded GDRs narrow to 8.69 per cent on January 7, 1999, from 9.37 per cent on December 23, 1998. The top gainers among the GDRs were the auto sector GDRs.
