During mid-day session, the GDRs of Bajaj Auto was quoting at a premium of 29.77 per cent at $ 17.45. However, this premium has fallen from a high of 30.69 per cent registered on October 26, when the GDRs of Bajaj were traded at $ 17.88 while the underlying stock closed at Rs 578. The underlying stock of Bajaj closed at Rs 568.25, while the GDR price also fell by 1.41 per cent to trade at $ 17.45.

``It is a positive sign that the premia of GDRs has been rising. This not only opens up avenues for FIIs to make fresh purchases at the local markets where the stock is traded at a cheaper price but also allows arbitrageurs to reap the benefits of the differences in prices," explained a BSE broker.

GDRs of BSES, ICICI, India Cements, ITC, SBIand VSNL have been quoting at a premium of 17.92 per cent, 11.24 per cent, 16.03 per cent and 7.52 per cent to their respective market prices, respectively.

While the GDRs of BSES, ICICI, India Cements and ITC has been moving in the northward direction for over four consecutive sessions except on October 27, the premium on the GDRs of SBI seems to be declining by over 40 per cent on an average. On October 26, the SBI GDR was traded at $ 8.85 commanding a premium of over 13 per cent, while on October 27 it was traded at $ 8.33 with a premium of 7.52 per cent.

However, GDRs of Reliance, Sail and Telco continue to be quoted at a discount. This, according to market participants, has been the prominent reason for the continous sales pressed by the FIIs here. Market sources attribute the large scale GDR conversions which could have triggered off the fall in the premia commanded by the GDRs of Reliance.