Tuesday's Asia ADR Recap

The stocks from China and India making moves and news in the U.S.

Author:: Stockpickr Staff
Publish date:: Apr 1, 2008 9:00 PM EDT

The stocks from China and India making moves and news in the U.S.

Updated from 7:46 p.m. EDT

Indian markets experienced extremes in volatility Tuesday, trading within a 500-point range before closing slightly lower. Market players in the Far East held back from buying equities after a data release that showed manufacturing growth in March came in at an eight-month low.

The seasonally-adjusted ABN Amro India Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 57.5 for March, vs. 59.5 for February. This was the worst showing for the index since July of 2007.

Also hurting Indian markets was a boycott by daytraders and arbitrageurs to protest the government's withdrawal of a rebate on securities transactions tax. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index lost 17.82 points, or 0.1%, to 15,626.62.

Leading Indian pharmaceutical company

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

(RDY) - Get Report

announced it has closed a deal with

Dow Chemical

(DOW) - Get Report

for the purchase of part of its small molecules business for an undisclosed price. The deal will include Dow's U.K.-based facilities located in Mirfield and Cambridge. American depositary shares of Reddy's closed up 5% at $15.21.

Indian automobile manufacturer

Tata Motors

(TTM) - Get Report

said total vehicle sales rose 6% for March to 66,495, vs. 62,779 for March in 2007. Car and utility vehicles sales fell 4% to 24,737, vs. 25,760 for the previous year and total vehicle sales for the fiscal year ending in March rose 1% to 582,401, vs. 578,862 for the previous year. Shares of Tata Motors closed higher by 3.2% at $16.13.

Indian global communications company

Tata Communications

( TCL) announced it has picked

Proxim Wireless

(PRXM)

as its supplier of mesh and point-to-multipoint unlicensed broadband wireless products. Shares of Tata rose sharply by 10% to $27.37.

Elsewhere in the communications sector, state-run

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam

(MTE)

said it had received an income tax refund of 13.95 billion rupees ($348 million). The refund will be added to the company's profits for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which ended on Monday. Shares of MTE benefited from the news, closing up by 4.6% to $5.17.

In the Indian banking sector,

Icici Bank

(IBN) - Get Report

announced it will be teaming up with

American Express

(AXP) - Get Report

to launch a new line of credit cards for the high-end Indian consumer market and for entrepreneurs on the region, according to

moneycontrol.com

. Shares of IBN finished higher by 7% to $41.18.

Be sure to check out the

Far East Portfolio

at Stockpickr.com every night to find out which stocks in India and China are making big moves and announcing major news.

China Recap

Asian markets traded mixed Tuesday with inflation concerns hurting shares in China and volatile trading ruling the day in Hong Kong. Stocks in China's mainland hit an 11-month low on concerns the Chinese government will take steps to fight inflation, which is currently at 11-year highs. Market players were spooked after China's central bank said controlling inflation with a tight monetary policy remains a top property. China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 143.55 points, or 4.1%, to 3,329.15.

"Investors in China are concerned about the next slew of credit-tightening measures waiting to be unleashed by the government. It seems very likely the Shanghai Composite Index may slip to 3,000 in the near term," said Patrick Shum, strategist with Karl Thomson Securities.

Stocks in Hong Kong took cues from American markets after the U.S. government unveiled a plan to reform financial regulation. The Hang Seng delivered a volatile trading session that saw 100-point swings and closing up 288.26 points, or 1.3%, at 23,137.46.

In the Chinese alternative energy sector,

Suntech Power

(STP)

announced that independent Russia-based polysilicon producer

Nitol Solar

agreed to materially increase the amount of polysilicon it will supply Suntech under an existing seven-year supply contract. American depositary shares of Suntech traded up 2.2% to $41.47.

A shares of Chinese online search provider

Baidu.com

(BIDU) - Get Report

exploded 14%, or $33.62, to close at $273.25. Traders attributed the large gains in Baidu to heavy short-covering. Shares of Baidu have fallen 29% on the year, having traded around $380 in January.

Chinese global provider of Internet services and software

CDC Corp

( CHINA) announced that during the last 10 days of March the company registered record average daily revenue of $153,000. These results came in well ahead of prior periods. Average daily revenue for the first three weeks of March 2008 was $118,000, for January and February of 2008 about $86,000, and for the fourth-quarter of 2007 about $86,000. CDC said the strong results were due to the company's diverse online game portfolio. Shares of CDC advanced 11% o $3.92 on the news.

Rumors were swirling Tuesday that president Tang Jun, of Chinese online game company

Shanda Interactive Entertainment

( SNDA), is going to resign his position and take a job with a venture capital company. Shanda refused to comment on the speculation. Shares of Shanda finished up 2.7% at $29.89.

Elsewhere in the Chinese online gaming sector,

Sohu.com

(SOHU) - Get Report

rose sharply by 8% to $49.02;

SINA

(SINA) - Get Report

traded up 5% to $37.18;

Perfect World

(PWRD)

added 3% to $23;

NetEase.com

(NTES) - Get Report