Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday. Japanese Nikkei 225 ended 0.1% higher at 17,529.00. Kajima, the largest contractor in Japan, finished almost 10% lower after announcing this fiscal year profit will fall 23%. However, other companies including Hitachi, up 2%, Nippon Oil, up 3.2%, and engineering firm JGC, up 12%, buoyed the Japanese market as a two-day Bank of Japan meeting got under way.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed up 0.3% at 20,937.26, and the Shanghai Composite ended 2.2% higher at 3,986.04 after losses on Tuesday. Among the large-caps powering the market advance was China Mobile, the second-biggest stock in the benchmark index by market capitalization, which gained 1%.

Financials and alcohol-makers were strong in China on expectations of robust quarterly results. China Merchants Bank gained 1.4%. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank advanced 1.1%, and China Life increased 2.4%. Kweichow Moutai added 2.9% and Wuliangye Yibin soared 8.1%.

Other indices also gained. The Australia All Ordinaries rose 0.1% at 6,301.10, the South Korean Kospi advanced 0.7% at 1,600.60 and the Singapore Strait Times index settled 0.5% higher at 3,494.00.


8:30AM Bausch & Lomb agreed to be acquired for $4.5 billion.
Bausch & Lomb (BOL: chart), eye-care company, announced on Wednesday that it agreed to be acquired by affiliates of private equity firm Warburg Pincus in a deal worth $4.5 billion. The acquisition deal includes about $830 million in debt. The offer represents a 26% premium to the average price of the stock over a 30-day period of deal speculations. The firm will take on about $830 million in debt.

Under the terms of agreement, affiliates of Warburg Pincus will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Bausch & Lomb common stock for $65 a share in cash. The company was recently hit by a massive product recall when some of its contact lens solution was linked to an eye disease and, in some cases, blindness. Morgan Stanley advised Bausch & Lomb, while Banc of America, Citi, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan were the financial advisors of Warburg Pincus. The stock jumped 9.5% in pre-market trading.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex rallies Wednesday on SBI, Reliance Industries.

The Sensex on BSE finished Wednesday 197.98 points, or 1.42%, higher at 14,127.31.

The market-breadth was very strong with two advancers for each decliner. For 1,628 stocks that advanced, 987 declined and only 66 stocks remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 20 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,151 crore compared to Rs 4,154 crore on Tuesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 10,684.34 crore, much higher than Rs 9,135.04 crore on Tuesday.

Economic and corporate news

Liquor billionaire Vijay Mallya through his company United Spirits announced Wednesday he had bought Scottish whiskey maker Whyte & Mackay for 595 million pounds, nearly Rs 4,819 crore. United Spirits informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had acquired 100% of Whyte & Mackay. United Spirits gained 8% to Rs 904 on the news.

Arcelor-Mittal, the largest steelmaker in the world, posted on Wednesday a 41% rise in first-quarter profit and added that higher prices would boost earnings in the second quarter.

The prime minister's economic adviser stated on Wednesday that Indian economy should expand by at least 8.5% in fiscal 2007, but high economic growth was curtailed by widespread power shortages. He added that India had suffered major power shortages for years, and also poor infrastructure stood in the way of the fourth-largest economy in Asia to sustain even higher growth.

Trading highlights

Unitech was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 225 crore followed by HDFC Bank and SBI.

Advancers

SBI soared nearly 5% to Rs 1,284. The bank gained for the second day in a row today, as the Lok Sabha, on Tuesday, May 15 2007, passed the State Bank of India, or Subsidiary Bank Laws Amendment Bill, 2006. The amendment bill will help SBI to reduce its stake in subsidiary banks to 51%, from the existing 55%. Other banks also rallied. ICICI Bank rallied over 3% to Rs 919, and HDFC Bank added 2% to Rs 1,031.

Index heavy Reliance Industries surged 2.2% to Rs 1,634. Reliance announced yesterday it had made two gas discoveries in separate blocks off the east and west coasts of the country.