Index heavy, Reliance Industries surged 4.2% to Rs 1,896 on a court decision from the Bombay High Court, which on Wednesday, July 18 J 2007, repealed a decision to forbid Reliance Industries to sell gas from its KG basin field to any other firm except Anil Ambani''s Reliance Natural Resources and state-run NTPC.

Cement stocks were boosted by the infrastructure boom. Grasim jumped 3.5% to Rs 2,996. Other cement shares also advanced. JK Lakshmi Cement was up 4.3% to Rs 143 and UltraTech Cement Company gained 1.4% to Rs 969. ACC, volatile during the session, but managed to finish with a gain of 1.5% to Rs 1,150.

Telecom stocks gained on strong buying interest. The second-largest mobile services firm in India, Reliance Communications advanced 2.1% to Rs 579. The company has sold a 5% stake in its telecom tower business, worth 27,000 crore.

Bharti Airtel advanced 1.4% to Rs 896. Bharti Enterprises, the parent of Bharti Airtel announced on Wednesday, July 18 2007, one of its group companies had purchased a 4.99% in the telecom firm from Vodafone. Bharti''s voting interest in Bharti Airtel is now more than 50%.

IT stocks gained in expectation of global merger & acquisition activity. The second-largest IT services company Infosys Technologies surged 2.6% to Rs 1,997 on speculation that it is close to buying the finance and accounting BPO arm of Philips Global.

Wipro bounced back from a low of Rs 494, and was up 0.19% to Rs 505.40. The company reported before market opening, 16% increase in net profit to Rs 710 crore in first-quarter of June 2007, below the market expectations.

Decliners of the Day

Only four stocks in Sensex fell. Hindustan Unilever dipped 0.6% to Rs 198, Reliance Energy lost 0.4% to Rs 686, Cipla declined 0.4% to Rs 205 and Tata Steel, which finished almost flat, down 0.07% to Rs 682.

6:30AM European markets gain Thursday on strong corporate results in tech stocks.

European stocks advanced Thursday. All 17 markets gained in Europe, except the market in Finland. Of the three major markets, U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.8% at 6,618.60, while the German DAX 30 index was up 1% at 7,970.95 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.8% at 6,046.29.

In London, stocks gained for the first time in four days, led by Vodafone after the largest mobile-phone company in the world announced the number of subscribers surged by 4.1% in the fiscal first quarter. Vodafone climbed 1.4%.

Miners also advanced as copper prices rose for a second day in Shanghai on concern of lower output from Chile. BHP jumped 2.4% and Rio increased 2.3%. Segro, the owner of five of the U.K. largest business parks, climbed 1.9% as UBS hiked its recommendation on the shares to buy from neutral.

In Frankfurt, German benchmark DAX Index climbed for the first time in three days, led by SAP after the largest maker of business-management software in the world reported earnings that topped analysts'' estimates. SAP rallied 4.7%. The company announced second-quarter profit increased 8.2% to 449 million euros or $619 million, spurred by a jump in license sales in Europe. MAN also advanced 1.4% and Siemens climbed 1.9%.

In Paris, French stocks advanced, as gains were paced by Groupe Danone. Eramet surged after a report that Areva may buy a 37% stake. Danone, the world largest yogurt maker, rose 2.6%. European food and beverage shares advanced after a report that Pepsico and Nestle considered a merger this year. Eramet, which operates the world largest ferronickel plant, soared 13%.

Currencies

The dollar traded near record lows against the euro and the pound Thursday, as the U.S. currency was hit by concerns over the U.S. housing market. The euro rallied to $1.3813 in late morning trading on Thursday, up from $1.3795 overnight in New York, but below the record high of $1.3833 reached in early Wednesday trading.

The British pound also traded near its highest point in more than a quarter-century, trading at $2.0500 Thursday, but down from $2.0533 overnight in New York.

The dollar also slipped against the Japanese yen, falling to 121.87 yen from 121.89 yen in New York late Wednesday.

5:30AM Gold gains Wednesday on inflation worries, oil rallies above $75 a barrel.

Gold movement depends on four factors including inflation concerns, the movement of the dollar against the euro, bond yields and oil prices. In his comments to Congress Wednesday, Bernanke stated that growth this year will be slightly slower than the Fed had projected in February on weakness in the housing industry with inflation remaining the main concern of the Federal Reserve.