The re-rating of software stocks in itself is seen propping up the overall market mood, which had fizzled out in recent days. Brokers see the Sensex reaching a new peak in the coming days.

Software stocks, which were ruling easy, in the past couple of sessions joined the Infosys party and witnessed frenzied buying. "The run up on Infosys at the Nasdaq triggered the buying on the local bourses. Investors now feel that the software sector will once again get re-rated. This turned the whole market which was already in the bullish phase," said Jayesh Sheth, treasurerBSE.

Notwithstanding the nervosnous in the market on Friday, the software stocks, led by Infosys, shot through the roof after opening the day. The BSE sensex after opening at 3,700 points rose to 3,715 points and dropped to 3,658 points before closing the day at 3,702 points.

Among the software stocks, Wipro and Satyam Computers were the top gainers withe stocks locking at the upper end of the filter at Rs 3861 and Rs 1413 respectively on NSE. Infosys witnessed sharp fluctuations through the day and after opening the day at the freeze level of Rs 3,457.1 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip slipped close to the Rs 3,300 level before settling the day at Rs 3,420. Pentafour rose by Rs 66 to close the day at Rs 1098 on NSE. Aptech was up Rs 65 to Rs 895 and NIIT shot up by Rs 84 from Rs 2,106 to Rs 2,190.

The market's optimism of witnessing more and more Indian software companies seeking listing overseas was also shared by Nascom President, Dewang Mehta. ``Buoyed by the overwhelming response toInfosys Technologies' Nasdaq listing, ten more Indian software companies are likely to be listed on overseas stock exchanges over the next two years,'' Mehta said. Nasdaq International Ltd president John T Wall sees more Indian firms getting a slot on Nasdaq in 1999, especially technology, pharmaceutical or service companies or banks.

Maulik Sharedalal, director Kaji & Maulik Securities said, ``the tremendous response that Infosys' ADR received seemed to give investors here the hope that quite a few other well managed software companies could follow suit. Infact there were talks of Satyam Computers having nominated an investment banker for an ADR issue for its subsidiary Satyam Infoway."

A section of brokers said that the optimism has been triggered by the heavy premium of 20 per cent at which Infosys got traded on the first day at the Nasdaq.

According to Neel Dalal, BSE broker, "Infosys provided the further fillip to the ongoing rally in software.'' According to Dalal, this rally would go a long wayin enabling the index make a new top at 4,200 levels in the next few trading sessions.

Infosys ADR touches $ 50

MUMBAI: The American Depository Receipt (ADR) of Infosys Technologies touched $ 50 on the Nasdaq stock market on the first day of trading. Infosys's trading volumes on its debut at Nasdaq soared close to 2.69 million ADRs or 13.47 lakh shares. This was way above the actual number of ADRs floated by the company.

The surge in trading interest on Nasdaq was coupled with wild movement in the ADR price. The ADR after a debut at $ 34 soared to $ 47 to drop back to $ 39. The ADR in the third hour of trading shot by almost 50 per cent to $ 50 to close the day at $ 46.875, up by $ 12.875 from the days opening level.

Trading volume of close to 2.7 million ADRs at Nasdaq on Thursday was almost 10 times the combined average daily trading volume of around 2.7 lakh shares on the National and Bombay Stock Exchanges. Trading on the NSE peaked at 2.27 lakh shares on Friday against an average dailyvolume of 1.4 lakh shares in the past few days.