Indian ADRs jump ahead of general election outcome

NEW YORK: Ahead of the results of the general elections in India, majority of Indian shares listed on American bourses made significant gains in early trade on Friday, with ICICI Bank soaring as much as 7 per cent.

Most of the 16 Indian stocks trading as American Depository Receipts were trading in the green.

Apart from private sector lender ICICI Bank, the shares of another private sector lender HDFC Bank, IT majors Infosys and Wipro, auto maker Tata Motors and pharma entity Dr Reddy's Laboratories were also in the positive territory.

The results of the general elections will be out tomorrow. The elections were held for 543 seats.

ICICI surged by 7 per cent to $23.87 while HDFC Bank jumped 4.14 per cent to $79.99. Wipro gained 5 per cent to $10.90, Infosys rose 2 per cent to $32.13 and Tata Motors increased 2.5 per cent to $7.67.

However, Dr Reddy's was trading flat at $11.57. Among the ADRs trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, leading copper producer Sterlite Industries climbed 2.2 per cent to $9.30. US markets were flat in early trade.