Thursday's Asia ADR Recap

Indian stocks jumped higher Thursday after government inflation readings backed off from three-year highs. India's wholesale price index rose to 7.14% in the 12 months ending April 5, compared with the prior week's rise of 7.41% and just shy of consensus forecasts of 7.19%. India's central bank also announced it's raising its cash reserve ratio to 8% from 7.5% in two phases ending on May 10.

"The action had to be done immediately and it has been done. The Reserve Bank of India's intention is to squeeze out the current liquidity," said Krish Ramkumar, of Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management.

Dealers in the region said the equity rally was sparked by short-covering with bearish traders heavily positioned for a higher inflation number. The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-stock Sensex Index rose 237 points, or 1.5%, to 16,481 points. Indian equity markets will be closed Friday for a public holiday.

Bangalore-based information technology company Wipro Limited (WIT Quote) and U.S. software giant Microsoft (MSFT Quote) announced an expansion of their strategic alliance with the launch of two Wipro Centers of Excellence to display Microsoft technologies at Wipro's centers in Bangalore and Mysore, according to a company press release. American depositary shares of Wipro fell 1.1% to $11.79. ...