Trading highlights

Index heavy Reliance Industries was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 142 crore followed by Indiabulls Real Estate and ICRA.

Advancers

SBI gained nearly 5% to close at Rs 1,206. On Saturday, May 12 2007, the largest public sector bank of India reported a 75% growth in net profit to Rs 1,493.19 crore in Q4 March 2007, from Rs 853.29 crore in the same period a year earlier. Net interest income rose 22% to Rs 4,320 crore. Net profit was up 3% to Rs 4,541.31 crore in the year ending March 2007.

Index heavy Reliance Industries moved up nearly 2% to Rs 1,621. ONGC was up 2% at Rs 907. ICICI Bank moved up 2.5% to Rs 870. Tata Steel added nearly 4% to Rs 591. The stock has gained on renewed buying at lower level on expectation of strong Q4 March 2007 results. Tata Steel reports Q4 results on May 17.

Hindustan Lever advanced 4% to Rs 192.95 buoyed by expectations of early arrival of monsoon.

Cement shares, too, got a lift from favorable reports of monsoon. Gujarat Ambuja Cements gained 4% to Rs 124.05, Grasim 2.5% to Rs 2,490 and ACC 2% to Rs 867. Cement firms derive a large portion of their revenue from rural housing.

Decliners

Dr. Reddy''s slipped over 4% to Rs 655, as a U.S. court on Friday, May 11 2007, upheld a patent protecting Aciphex ulcer drug of Eisai Company. Bajaj Auto dropped 2% at Rs 2,660, and Hero Honda also declined 2% to Rs 690. Wipro lost 0.3% to Rs 544 and TCS dipped almost 3% to Rs 1,249.


6:30AM European markets gain on Monday on deals involving DaimlerChrysler, Merck.

European markets are higher on Monday morning. The German DAX Xetra 30 index added 0.5% at 7,516.24, the French CAC-40 index rose less than 0.1% to 6,052.92 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index increased 0.2% at 6,578.80.

Advancers

In merger-and-acquisition news, DaimlerChrysler, the world fifth-largest carmaker, rallied or 7.8%. The Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker said private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP will buy 80.1% of the U.S. Chrysler Group for 5.5 billion euros, or $7.5 billion.

Elsewhere in the sector, Porsche rose 1% and Volkswagen gained 0.4%. Over the weekend, Volkswagen recommended rejecting a takeover offer from Porsche, as many had expected.

Merck KGaA jumped 3.9% after it agreed to sell its generic drug unit to Mylan Laboratories Inc. Deals were also a focus for other sectors. Shares in U.K. catering firm Compass Group gained 1.7% after Compass agreed to sell its European vending business, Selecta, to a company managed by Allianz Capital Partners for 772.5 million pounds, or $1.5 billion.

Decliners

Rio Tinto, the world third-largest mining company, declined 2.1%, while HSBC, the region largest bank by market value, fell 0.9%.

Commodities

Crude oil for June delivery rose as much as 70 cents, or 1.1%, to $63.07 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil for June settlement gained as much as 67 cents, or 1%, to $67.50 a barrel on ICE Futures exchange. Gold opened in London at $672.70, up from $671.90 late Friday. In Zurich, the bid price was $670.95, up from $668.30. Silver opened in London at $13.19, down from $13.22.