The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 3.5% at a record 3,710.89. In large caps, China United Telecommunications soared 6.4%, Air China rose 9.1% and Baoshan Iron & Steel gained 5.4%. Taiwan shares ended 0.9% higher at 8,010.46 in light volume.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures pointed higher on strong earnings and takeover activity.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a robust opening, with the Dow Jones industrial average expected to rise above the 13,000 mark for the first time Monday. On Friday, the Dow rose more than 150 points to 12,961.98, posting its seventh straight gain and third straight record close. The highly positive pre-market sentiment was generated by merger activity, as well as optimism about corporate profits.

A multibillion-dollar takeover deal sent European stocks sharply higher and provided a strong boost to the U.S. stock futures. British bank Barclays PLC (BCS: chart) agreed to acquire Dutch bank ABN Amro NV (ABN: chart) for $91.16 billion in what would be the world''''s biggest bank deal. According to the terms of agreement, ABN Amro has to sell its U.S. unit, LaSalle Bank, to Bank of America Corp. for $21 billion. ABN also is holding talks with a consortium of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander Central Hispano and Fortis over a possible counter bid. ABN Amto shares gained 1% in the pre-open, while Barclays lost 1.1%. In another merger deal, British drug maker AstraZeneca PLC (AZN: chart) said it will buy U.S. drug maker MedImmune Inc. (MEDI: chart) for $15.6 billion.

Earnings reports were also in focus Monday morning. Hasbro Inc. (HAS: chart) said it swung to a Q1 profit, beating expectations. The second-largest U.S. toymaker posted profit of $32.9 million, or 19 cents a share, compared to a loss of $4.9 million, or 3 cents a share a year ago. Net revenue rose nearly 34%, reaching $625.3 million. The company’s shares rose 3.4% in the pre-open. Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis SA (NVS: chart) said its profit increased 11%. Companies reporting after the closing bell include cell phone chip maker Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN: chart). No Dow components release earnings Monday. Ahead of Monday''''s market opening, Dow futures expiring in June rose 11.00, or 0.08%, to 13,030. The Standard & Poor''''s 500 index futures slipped 0.10, or 0.01%, to 1,493.00, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.25, or 0.07%, to 1,863.75.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex finishes higher Monday, Tata Steel rallies.

The Sensex on BSE finished 30,92 points, or 0.22%, higher, at 13,928.33.

The market-breadth was negative as 1,384 stocks declined, while 1,163 advanced and 83 remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 16 advanced, 13 declined and one stock was unchanged. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,287 crore, lower than Rs 4,321.46 crore on Friday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 7,695.31 crore, also lower than Rs 8,857.73 crore on Friday.

Economic news

Arcelor Mittal, the largest steel manufacturer in the world, has received approval from the U.S. and Mexican competition authorities to acquire Sicartsa from Grupo Villacero for $1.43 billion, about Rs 6,006 crore. Sicartsa is a fully integrated producer of long steel, with an annual production capacity of about 2.7 million tons and estimated iron ore reserves of 160 million tons.

Suggesting further tightening of the credit policy, the Reserve Bank today decided to suspend measures announced in October 2006 increase borrowings by companies in foreign currency.

M&A

British banking company Barclays will add thousands of new employees to its India subsidiaries following the takeover of its Dutch rival ABN Amro in a cash-and-stock deal valued at over $90 billion. While the number of new jobs have not been disclosed, reports suggest that the figure could be at anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs.

Trading highlights

Gujarat Ambuja was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 349 crore followed by Tata Steel and Unitech. Three large block trades of 93.21 lakh shares each, at an average Rs 116.05 per share, traded in the Gujarat Ambuja Cements stock on BSE, contributed to the high turnover of the market.

Advancers

Tat Steel led the advancers, surging over 4% to Rs 558. It had advanced to a high of Rs 560, in intra-day trade. Reliance Communications advanced on expectations of robust earnings growth, powered by a strong increase in the subscriber base and an increased penetration of value-added services. Reliance Communications was up nearly 2% at Rs 465 and Reliance Energy gained over 2% to Rs 523.

ONGC gained over 1% to Rs 933. HDFC also gained over 1% to Rs 1,670. Satyam added nearly 1% to Rs 481. Infosys also advanced 0.6% to settle at Rs 2,067. Reliance Industries gained on late hours trading and managed to close 0.8% up at Rs 1,554.

Decliners