SKINDIA INDIAN GDR MONITOR
Volume V No 43	Oct 30-Nov 05, 1998	06-Nov-98

After a relatively dull previous week, this week saw some buying interest in the GDRs, on the other hand the domestic markets continued to be sluggish. The Skindia GDR Index gained 27.52 points while the BSE Sensex was marginally down by 2.65 points by the end of the week. The Skindia GDR Index touched weekly high of 550.18 on Nov. 05 and a low of 522.59 on Oct 30. As the GDR markets raced ahead of the domestic markets, the average premiums increased from 1.74% on Oct 29 to 6.59% on Nov 05. The average spreads were marginally higher from 10.25% on Oct 29 to 10.48% on Nov 05. During the week, the 60 GDRs on an average appreciated 2.80% while, the shares declined by 1.82%. In GDRs, telecom sector was the forerunner with a rise of 12.78% followed by auto with 7.07% and textile with 4.85%. The only losers were fertiliser with a fall of 2.92% and pharma with 1.61%. In shares auto sector was the leader with a rise of 4.38%, and hotel and power were the only other sectors to provide positive returns of 0.39% each. The top losers were in steel with a loss of 7.23%, pharma with 6.58% and textile with 3.28%. Hotel Sector Hotel stocks have been unable to attract many investors to their counters. In the first half of 1998 - 99 the GDRs for this sector on an average declined 48.83% and the shares by 36.45% in comparison to a fall of 9.27% and 10.95% in the corresponding period last year. The Skindia GDR Index has fallen 33.42% and BSE Sensex 21.85% in H1 1998-99 while the indices gained 10.76% and 13.86% last year during this period. The GDR of E I Hotels has lost 50.28% and Indian Hotels 47.37% in the first half of fiscal 1998-99 against a decline of 12.00% and 6.55% respectively in the corresponding period of last year. The shares also had performed badly losing 40.71% and 32.20% this year against a loss of 10.52% and 11.38% last year respectively. Even the government of India's decision to grant export status to the tourism industry failed to encourage the investors to show any buying interest in this sector. Since the announcement of this decision on Nov 02, the GDR of E I Hotel has remained constant at $5.55 and its share has appreciated slightly by 1.23% to Rs 237.80. The GDR of Indian Hotels moved up 1.35% to $9.38 while its share declined by 0.49% to Rs 405.00.

DISCLAIMER : Factual material is obtained from sources believed to be reliable and SkindiaFinance is not responsible for any errors and omissions contained herein. Any recommendation contained in this report may not be suitable for all issuers.