Dow back from triple-digit losses as Fed moves in; Manages to post marginal gains for the week

US stocks crawled back from earlier steep losses Friday after the Federal Reserve and other major central banks intervened in an attempt to jump-start stalled credit markets, with the Dow ending up 58 points, or 0.4% higher, for the week.

At the New York Stock Exchange, 2.5 billion shares were exchanged, and declining issues outpaced advancers 5 to 3. At the Nasdaq, 3.2 billion shares traded, with decliners outpacing advancing stocks 3 to 2. The spreading of the subprime mortgage crisis to credit markets, hedge funds and other financial institutions led to big volatility this week, including rallies through Wednesday and a nearly 400-point drop on Thursday.

But in moves unseen since after September 11, 2001, the Fed and other central banks began injecting liquidity in the global financial system on Thursday, and stepped up the pace on Friday to encourage borrowers and lenders.

The Fed added $ 19 billion in liquidity to the market Friday morning, then another $ 16 billion and, finally, $ 3 billion. Federal Reserve policy makers "are trying to do everything they can short of cutting the federal funds rate" to try to calm the markets, analysts said adding that they probably will have to cut rates, and that too before their scheduled September meeting.

It was Fed rate cuts that calmed the market after the 1998 Russian debt crisis and the implosion of the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. The Dow closed down 31.14, or 0.23%, at 13,239.54. On Thursday, the Dow fell 387 points and extended a series of triple-digit moves that began in late July. Friday's moves were typical of the zigzag trading in the Dow since the index closed at a record 14,000.41 on July 19. The Dow is down about 761 points, or 5.4 percent, from its record close.

Broader stock indicators finished mixed Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.55, or 0.04%, to 1,453.64, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 11.60, or 0.45%, to 2,544.89. All three indexes still finished higher for the week: The Dow rose 0.44%, the S&P advanced 1.44% and the Nasdaq added 1.34%. Sharp gains such as the Dow's 287-point climb Monday, left stocks better able to weather Thursday's plunge. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.91, or 0.50%, to 788.78 Friday, and ended the week with a 4.41% gain.



Indian ADRs end on a mixed note; Wipro, Satyam lead the losers, Tata Motors among the gainers

Indian ADRs ended the week on a mixed note. Satyam Computers and Wipro were amongst the major losers, ending more than 2% lower, while Tata Motors led the gainers by rising 2.3%.

In the technology pack, Infosys Technologies was down 0.61% or 0.30 points to 49, Satyam Computers was down 2.15% to 26.45, Wipro was down 2.28% to 13.71, while Patni COmputers managed to end marginally higher by 0.72% to 20.99.

In the non-tech pack, the losers were MTNL, which was down 1.14% at 6.94, VSNL was down by 0.33% to 20.83 and Dr Reddy's Lab was down 0.44% at 15.79. Among the gainers were ICICI Bank, which was up 1.9% at 42.39, HDFC Bank was up 1.44% at 83.90, Tata Motors was up 2.32% at 16.76 and Sterlite Industries was up 0.46% at 15.25.