Indian ADRs shed $3.6 bn; Infosys, Wipro top losers

Indian stocks trading on American bourses lost about $3.6 billion in market capitalisation last week, with IT giants Infosys Technologies and Wipro accounting for most of the total erosion.

The two Indian tech majors together saw a plunge of $3.3 billion from their total m-cap for the week ended August 13, with Wipro alone shedding $1.7 billion to $32.33 billion and the bellwether Infosys losing $1.6 billion to $33.72 billion.

Of the 16 Indian entities listed on two US bourses -- the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq -- only four of them, including Tata Motors and Tata Communications, saw gains in valuations.

Among the 16 companies listed as American Depository Receipts (ADRs), auto major Tata Motors was the biggest gainer with an upsurge of $755 million to $9.69 billion, while Tata Communications' valuation rose by $300 million to about $2 billion.

ADRs are bought and sold on American markets just like stocks and are issued in by a bank or a brokerage firm.

Meanwhile, private sector lender HDFC Bank saw a loss of $466 million at $24.06 billion.

HDFC Bank was followed by the copper producer, Sterlite Industries that lost $418 million at $ 2.83 billion and the outsourcing firm Genpact which shed $189 million in its valuation.

Mahindra Satyam (earlier known as Satyam Computer Services) was another IT firm whose m-cap declined by $175 million to $3.2 billion.

Valuations of private sector lender ICICI Bank and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) plunged by $78 million to $23 billion, and $53 million to $873 million respectively.

M-caps of the Internet firm Sify Technologies, outsourcing companies WNS Holdings and EXL Service Holdings and the pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories slid between $1 million and $40 million.

Patni Computer Systems was the only IT counter where valuation grew by $97 million to $1.4 billion. There was a marginal rise of $2 million seen in the m-cap of the Internet firm Reddif.Com.
    
On Friday, the US markets ended in the red, with Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.16 per cent to 10,303.15 and S&P 500 sliding by 0.40 per cent to 1,079.25.
    
Besides, the tech heavy Nasdaq closed 0.77 per cent lower at 2,173.48.