ADRs in Focus: India index up after Infosys profit, outlook

The Bank of New York India ADR index rose 55.03 points, or 6.2 percent, to 948.50. ADR stands for American Depositary Receipt, which is a security designed to allow U.S. investors to trade shares of companies based overseas.

Shares of Infosys trading in New York rose $3.35, or 9.2 percent, to $39.91. While the quarterly results represent the information-technology company's slowest growth period to date, Infosys forecast fiscal 2009 revenue growth of 19.2 percent to 21.2 percent higher than expected.

The results and guidance should quell concerns about an industrywide "meltdown" some had feared as the U.S. economy soured, Cowen & Co. analyst Moshe Katri said in a note to clients.

"We believe that growth today marks a bottom for the offshore sector, as we believe investors will note the group's resilience vis-a-vis other technology areas," said Katri, who kept an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Elsewhere on the Indian index, shares of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. gained $1.81, or 8 percent, to $24.38. Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd. added $4.29, or 4.6 percent, to $97.87, shares of ICICI Bank Ltd. jumped $1.68, or 4.4 percent, to $39.89, and shares of Patni Computer Systems Ltd. increased 65 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $12.73.

Sify Technologies posted the smallest gain during intraday trading on the 13-member index, adding 5 cents to $4.63.

Despite today's gains, the India ADR index is still down more than 20 percent year to date.

The Bank of New York Emerging Markets ADR Index which includes shares of companies based in China, India, Brazil and more gained 4.16 points to 349.67. The Bank of New York Composite ADR Index gained 1.26 points to 174.14 as the U.S. markets rose in afternoon trading.