Friday's Asia ADR Recap
Updated from 5:45 p.m. EDT
Indian equity markets were closed Friday for a public holiday. Trading will resume Monday.
Indian global information technology provider
Wipro Limited
(WIT) - Get Report
said its fourth-quarter net profit was 8.75 billion Indian rupees, vs. Wall Street estimates of 8.84 billion rupees and fourth-quarter revenue came in at 55.96 billion rupees, vs. analyst estimates of 56.17 billion rupees. Net interest income fell sharply to 182 million rupees from 850 million rupees a year earlier. Wipro chairman Axim Premji said the company will remain cautiously optimistic in the face of a challenging global economic environment. American depositary shares of Wipro, which trade on the
NYSE
, rose 5.4% to $12.43.
Elsewhere in the Indian IT sector,
Infosys Technologies
(INFY) - Get Report
announced it has won a five-year outsourcing deal with U.S.-based health and life insurance provider
Conseco
(CNO) - Get Report
. Under the terms of the deal, Infosys will manage and provide maintenance services for several of Conseco's IT systems. Shares of Infosys jumped 4.9% to $43.08.
According to the
Economic Times
, Indian IT consulting and software developer
Patni Computer Systems
(PTI) - Get Report
is actively searching for acquisitions in the consulting sector in Europe. "While we would look at bigger acquisitions for building a capability base, it is highly agile, smaller deals that look more attractive to us. The company considers Europe a key market for growth which it considers far from saturation. We are pursuing Europe as a growth market," said Patni VP & Europe head Brian Stones. Shares of Patni rallied 2.1% to $14.02.
Be sure to check out the
at Stockpickr.com every night to find out which stocks in India and China are making big moves and announcing major news.
China Recap
Stocks in mainland China nosedived Friday after
PetroChina
(PTR) - Get Report
, the most heavily weighted stock on the Shanghai Index, fell below its initial public offering price. Dealers in the Far East said investor sentiment is waning now that China's major stock index is approaching the psychologically important 3,000 level. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index registered its first weekly fall in a month as profit-taking hit the large caps. The index slid 1.9% on the week breaking a three-week rally.
Chinese inflation worries also heightened Friday after official government data showed farm goods prices rose 25.5% in the first quarter and housing costs jumped 11% in March.
"The main reason for the protracted decline is disappointment over market policy. Both retail and institutional investors are deeply worried about the economy and continued monetary tightening, and there haven't been any measures to break the market's fall," said Gui Haoming, an analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell sharply by 128 points, or 4%, to 3,094, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed lower by 61 points, or 0.3%, to 24,107.
Shares of China's search engine king
Baidu.com
(BIDU) - Get Report
surged 10% higher Friday after sector leader
(GOOG) - Get Report
announced blowout earnings following Thursday's market close. Baidu also is reportedly getting ready to launch an online game business, according to the
Shanghai Securities News
. Sources close to the situation said Baidu is looking to form a partnership with a
Nasdaq
-listed online game company to mange the new venture. American depositary shares of Baidu closed up $31 at $341.
In the Chinese oil and gas complex,
Cnooc
(CEO) - Get Report
announced it has acquired a 50% stake in Husky Oil, a subsidiary of
Husky Energy
, for $125 million. The deal will join Husky and Cnooc in the development of gas and natural gas liquid fields off the coast of East Java, Indonesia. Also under the agreement, both companies will develop and further explore the Madura Straits. Shares of Cnooc jumped 4.6% to $178.32.
One of China's largest out-of-home digital television advertising networks on mass transportation systems,
VisionChina Media
(VISN)
, announced it has inked a three-year agreement with
Guangzhou Metro TV Media
to operate a mobile digital television advertising network on the subway system in the city of Guangzhou. Shares of Vision China rose 10% to $15.85 on twice the average daily trading volume.
Chinese maker of wireless products
China GrenTech
( GRRF) announced its net income for the fourth-quarter fell by 31% to RMB78.1 million (US$10.7 million) and year-over-year 2007 net income plunged 44.6% to RMB82.5 million (US11.3 million). GrenTech's fourth-quarter EPS came in at 43 cents a share, well below Wall Street estimates of 59 cents, and fourth-quarter revenue was $64.7 million, vs. Wall Street estimates of $73.68 million. Shares of Ghina GrenTech plunged 21% to $4.83 on 10 times average daily volume.
Chinese provider of structural exterior building systems
China Architectural Engineering
( RCH) announced it has closed a deal under which it will issue $20 million in convertible bonds and warrants to buy 300,000 shares of its common stock with
ABN Amro
and CITIC Allco Investments, a subsidiary of
CITIC Group
. Shares of RCH closed essentially flat at $5.55.
Some big movers among Chinese ADRs Friday were
ReneSola
(SOL) - Get Report
, which jumped 7.7% to $16.25;
Yingli Green Energy
(YGE)
, which rose 7.3% to $23.80;
JA Solar
(JASO)
, which added 7% to $25.75; and
Sina
(SINA) - Get Report
, which closed up 6.1% to $41.44.
Be sure to check out the
at Stockpickr.com every night to find out which stocks in India and China are making big moves and announcing major news.
For more on Asia, check out
Daniel Harrison's coverage
at
TheStreet.com
.
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