The GDR markets moved in tandem with the local markets. The looming political uncertainities along with the poor performance of leading corporate houses, has left the GDR marketmakers in a confused state.

"The slowdown faced by the Indian economy during the early phase of 1996, has overshadowed the performance of the corporates," said a research head of an FII brokerage firm.

"We are going slow on our investment decisions in the GDR markets," he added.During the week ended May 15, the Skindia GDR Index declined by a net 0.20 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 70.81 points against the previous week's close of 71.01 recorded on May 8.

However, the DSP Merrill Lynch which also moved in a narrow band reflecting a lacklustre trend, recorded a net gain of 0.25 points or 0.27 per cent to close at 92.31 points.

"The Skindia GDR index has lost during the third consecutive week, and this is due to the impact of the poor performance of the leading corporate entities," said Monica Mansukhani of Skindia Finance.

For the period between May 8 to May 15, the Skindia GDR Index Price Earnings ratio also witnessed a slight decline of about 0.44 per cent to close at 15.91 points from 15.98 points registered during the previous week.

"ITC and Bajaj Auto continued to be in the limelight due to different reasons," said Hemant Ashar of Gujarat Securities.

"The announcement of the results of Bajaj Auto stimulated the market makers also, to the extent that the GDR price rose by 6 per cent in one trading session at the GDR markets," he added.

However, the following few trading sessions on the GDR markets saw the Bajaj Auto's GDR price decline substantially.

The week ended May 15, saw Bajaj Auto's GDR price down by 1.59 per cent to close at $ 31.00. According to market sources, the FII buying interest has also trickled down to the GDR markets. The GDR price of ITC has spurted by 5.91 per cent to close at $ 14.88 on May 15.

ITC was quoting at a premium of 26.5 per cent against the underlying share price of Rs 421.25 recorded on May 15.

The other gainers during the week were : Indo Gulf (11.11 per cent), G E Shipping (10.50 per cent) and EID Parry (10.00 per cent).

However, during the week, JCT lost ground by 33 per cent to quote at $ 2.00, Ballarpur Industries was down by 25 per cent and DCW declined by 14.29 per cent.

VSNL continued to be traded at a premium of 16.73 per cent at $ 20.38 against its local share price of Rs 1250.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.