9:00AM Asian markets finished mixed with China and Australia rallying.

Asian markets ended mixed on Monday. The Shanghai Composite ended up 2.17% at 3,841.27.

Financial markets in Japan are closed Monday, Thursday and Friday for public holidays. Markets in China will be closed from Tuesday till the end of the week for a public holiday and will reopen on May 8.

In China, the central bank of China announced over the weekend it will raise bank reserve requirement ratio, the share of deposits banks must keep on reserve, by 0.50 percentage points beginning May 15. Aluminum Corp. of China, the mainland largest producer of the alloy, soared more than threefold in first-day trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Hong Hang Seng Index ended down 1.01% at 20,318.98. Among shares of mainland banks traded in Hong Kong, China Construction Bank dipped 1.5%, while Industrial & Commercial Bank of China shed 0.9%. China Mobile, the world largest cellular operator by revenue, fell 1.5% in Hong Kong.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.23% higher to close at 6,166.00. Paladin Resources declined 0.1% after the mining company announced development of its uranium projects could generate revenue of about $2.8 billion between now and 2012. Among resource shares, BHP Billiton gained 0.7%, while rival Rio Tinto added 0.3%.

In Seoul, the Kospi Index edged down 0.02% to close at 1,542.24. The index was weighed down as investors sold export-related shares such as Samsung Electronics amid data showed the U.S. economy expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter. Shares of Samsung Electronics, South Korea''s largest exporter, fell 1.4%.

Elsewhere around the region, Singapore Straits Times Index shed 1.08% to 3,361.89 and Taiwan Weighted Price Index lost 0.93% to close at 7,875.42.

8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex ends slightly lower on a late recovery.

The Sensex on BSE finished 36.21 points, or 0.26%, lower at 13,872.37.

The market-breadth was positive as there were close to three gainers for every two decliners. As 1,403 stocks advanced, 1,071 declined and 75 stocks remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 18 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,255 crore, lower than RS 3,770.65 crore on Friday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 7571.21 crore, compared with Rs 8,222.24 crore on Friday.

Economic news

The government today announced that it was considering export of 15 lakh tons of the commodity though international prices are not favorable. Sugar production in 2006-07 was provisionally estimated to be over 250 lakh tons and there was a carry over surplus of last season of 44 lakh tons, while the estimated consumption stood at 190 lakh tons.

India will probably t issue a tender this week for the import of 1 million tons of wheat on account of low obtaining of domestic grain by government agencies.

Trading highlights

Reliance Communications was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 160.70 crore followed by IFCI and Reliance Industries.

Advancers

Reliance Communications soared nearly 4% to Rs 477, leading the advancers. Reliance Comms today posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,024.41 crore in the fourth-quarter of fiscal 2007. It did not give figures in the corresponding period last year. As per available data, Reliance Comms had a consolidated net profit of Rs 440 crore in the fourth-quarter of fiscal 2006.

IT firms advanced as the market awaited changes, regarding a proposal in the Union Budget 2007-08 for bringing employee stock options plans under the fringe benefit tax. TCS rallied 2.5% to Rs 1,266, Infosys advanced over 2% to Rs 2,049, and Satyam added 1% to Rs 473.

Reliance Industries added over 1% to Rs 1,560. Reliance had on Thursday posted stronger-than-expected 14% growth in net profit in the fourth-quarter of fiscal 2007. Maruti and HDFC Bank gained 1% each at Rs 803 and Rs 1,026, respectively. Hero Honda, Tata Steel moved up over 2% each to Rs 684 and Rs 550, respectively. ACC also added 2% to Rs 839 and Grasim gained 0.5% to Rs 2,435.