Late surge in select stocks such as Tata Motors, Dr. Reddy’s, Hindustan Lever and Satyam Computer supported market recovery. Dr. Reddy’s jumped 10% on news that the company is in talks with Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol Meyers to settle drug patent disputes. Tata Motors gained 1.6% on recent restriction on maximum tonnage imposed by Supreme Court. Higher freight rates for road transportation and strong demand for trucks have raised hopes for better earnings. Hindustan Lever and Satyam Computers rose 1.7% and 1.4% respectively.


8:30 AM European averages lost ground at mid-day.
European markets traded mostly in the negative at mid-day dealings with market sentiment hurt by further worries that interest rate will be soon increased. However, strong pharmaceutical, media and auto stocks limited the downward trend. Automakers Volkswagen and BMW gained on lower euro and retreating oil. Sanofi-Aventis, Astra Zaneca and GlaxoSmithKline were among advancers. The German DAX 30 fell 0.2%, the French CAC 40 dropped 0.4%, while London FTSE 100 edged up 0.02%

8:00AM Interest-rate concerns dragged Asian markets down.
Asian-Pacific benchmarks finished Wednesday session with heavy losses, reflecting interest-rate concerns and weakness in the tech sector, following news that Microsoft will postpone the release of its Windows operating system until next year. The biggest loser was South Korea’s Kospi which plunged 2% on heavy sell-off among tech stocks, including Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor. The Nikkei dropped 0.8% to 16,495.48 with Nippon Steel limiting losses with an advance of 1.3% on expectations of higher steel demand. Hong Kong also posted a sharp decline, falling 1.8%, followed by Taiwan Weighted index, down 1%, while Australia’s All Ordinaries gained 0.4%.