Elsewhere in the region, Japanese Nikkei 225 Average closed 0.5% lower, losing 84.30 points to 17,631.56. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index pared sharper losses in early session to end 0.9% lower, losing 175.83 points to 20,253.17. South Korean Kospi Index advanced 0.1% to a record 1,662.72, Australian S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.2% to 6,243.4 and New Zealand NZX-50 shed 0.7% to 4,279.62. Taiwan Weighted Price Index retreated 0.4% and Singapore Straits Times Index recovered from sharp losses mid-session to end 0.5% lower. Thailand SET Index added 0.9%.

8:15AM CDW announced after the Bell Tuesday that it agreed to be bought by Madison Dearborn Partners for $7.3 B.

CDW (CDWC: chart) announced after the closing bell on Tuesday that it agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners in a cash deal worth $7.3 billion. Under terms of the deal, Madison Dearborn will pay $87.75 a share for the technology products reseller. The transaction is 16.1% premium over CDW''s May 25 closing price of $75.56 a share. Morgan Stanley will represent CDW and will solicit other proposals during the next 30 days. Reports that CDW was in talks with Madison Dearborn sent CDW stock up 10% to their Tuesday close of $83.11. The stock traded up 3.35 in pre-opening hours.


7:30AM NY-6:30PM Mumbai Sensex ends lower on late-hour drop in IT stocks.

The Sensex on BSE finished Wednesday 96.83 points, or 0.67%, lower at 14,411.38.

The market-breadth was negative with three decliners for every two advancers. As there were 991 stocks which advanced, 1,594 stocks declined and 67 stocks remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, only seven advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,737 crore, compared with Rs 4,605.18 crore on Tuesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 11,123.09 crore, much higher than Rs 9,340.58 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

The oldest stock exchange in India has joined the ranks of eighteen stocks markets around the world with more than $1 trillion in valuations. After China and Russia, India has joined the ranks of trillion dollar market valuation on steady flow of new companies listed on the exchange, flow of more than $40 billion of foreign portfolio investing and sustained high economic growth never since 1947. Corporate earnings listed in BSE 500 Index have gained more than 30% annually for the last five years.

The rupee ended yesterday at its highest level in nine years on speculation that the size of capital inflows will offset the Reserve Bank of India’s efforts to curb the surge of the rupee.

India will buy only 300,000 tons of wheat, less than one million tons expected in the earlier tenders in the international markets. Higher than expected quoted wheat prices led government to revise the purchase to a lower level.

Trading highlights

New issue MIC Electronics was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 492.60 crore followed by Larsen & Toubro and Orbit Corp. MIC Electronics ended at Rs 335.65 on BSE, a nearly 124% over its IPO price of Rs 150 per share.

Advancers

Larsen & Toubro rallied over 7% to Rs 1,994. L&T hit a record high of Rs 2,009, in intra-day trade. It posted 50% increase in net profit to Rs 701 crore in fourth-quarter of fiscal 2007 from Rs 467 crore in the comparable period a year earlier. Sales advanced 35.01% to Rs 6,248.24 crore against Rs 4,627.87 crore in previous period.

Hero Honda surged 1.7% to Rs 697, and HDFC spurted over 1% to Rs 1,833. Bajaj Auto settled 0.4% higher at Rs 2,201, while Gujarat Ambuja added 0.3% to Rs 115.

Decliners

Reliance Communications led the decline, down 3.8% to Rs 501 while Reliance Energy tumbled 3.7% Rs 535. HDFC Bank shed 3.5% to Rs 1,105.

Engineering large-cap BHEL reached intra-day record of Rs 2,922.50, dipped on profit taking and lost 3% to Rs 2,768. The company reported 33% increase in net profit in fourth-quarter of fiscal 2007 to Rs 1,150.37 crore from Rs 867.95 crore in the comparable period a year earlier. Sales rose to Rs 6,919.68 crore, from Rs 5,515.69 crore a year earlier.

Hindalco dropped 2.7% to Rs 141. Infosys slipped 2.4% to Rs 1,904. Maruti and Hindustan Lever shed around 2% each to Rs 803 and Rs 199, respectively. TCS and Satyam lost 1.5% each to Rs 1,214 and Rs 465, respectively, while ICICI Bank dropped 1% to Rs 911. Index heavy Reliance Industries declined 0.1% to Rs 1,755 on 8.54 lakh shares.