Index heavy Reliance Industries gained 0.4% to Rs 1,493. The stock had rebounded from a low of Rs 1,462, and surged to a high of Rs 1,499.50, a record high. Reliance has scheduled board of directors meeting on April 26 2007 and review unaudited financial results for the quarter and year ended in March 2007.

Decliners

ACC led the decliners, plunging 3.5% to Rs 788 despite posting a surge of 54.5% in the first quarter net profit. The cement company reported an advance in net profit ending in March to Rs 363.75 crore from Rs 235.42 crore from a year ago. Net sales grew 26.1% to Rs 1,674.83 crore from Rs 1,327.52 crore a year earlier. Satyam tumbled 3% to Rs 448.

HDFC lost 1.9% to Rs 1,564 ,Bajaj Auto dipped 2.2% to Rs 2,441, BHEL declined 2% to Rs 2,503 and ONGC slipped 1.% to Rs 895.

IT stocks declined on profit-taking. Infosys was down 1.8% to Rs 2,040, Wipro lost 0.4% to Rs 584, Satyam Computers dipped 2.6% to Rs 449.80 and TCS declined 0.2% to Rs 1,244.95.


6:30AM European markets were lower Thursday on interest rate fears.
European markets declined Thursday. By mid morning, Frankfurt Xetra Dax shed 1.3% to 7,186.14, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1.1% to 5,774.27 and London FTSE 100 slid 0.8% to 6,396.4. National benchmarks slid in all 17 western European markets that were open.

Advancers

Nokia, the biggest mobile phone maker in the world, gained 1.5% ahead of the Finnish company first-quarter results. Nokia market share is seen increasing to its highest level in 13 quarters, but slipping sales prices were expected to dent profits.

Schneider Electric SA advanced 1.5% after the maker of circuit breakers said first-quarter sales increased 22% to 3.89 billion euros, fueled by acquisitions and increased sales of electrical products. The company said Europe had an excellent start to the year.

Decliners

Among the London-listed miners, Antofagasta fell 2%, while Spanish oil group Repsol shed 1.9%.

German utility RWE dipped 4.6%, while Lufthansa fell 3.2%. Both stocks were trading without the rights to the latest dividend payment.

Logitech International SA dropped 8.2%. Fourth-quarter profit and revenue trailed analysts estimates after the maker of computer mice said sales of Web cameras fell.

Oil and precious metals

Crude oil recovered from early losses to trade for more than $63 a barrel in New York. Crude oil for May delivery rose 2 cents to $63.15 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in early trade in London.

Gold fell in London on speculation a rally that took the metal to the highest in eleven months was overdone. Silver also dropped. Gold for immediate delivery dropped $3, or 0.4% to $687.05 an ounce. Silver for immediate delivery declined 6 cents, or 0.6% to $13.895 an ounce. Among other precious metals for immediate delivery in London, platinum gained $7.50 to $1,302.50 an ounce, while palladium dropped $2 to $380.50 an ounce.
Currencies

The euro traded at around two-year highs Thursday, less than one U.S. cent off its record, after the European Central Bank reiterated that another interest rate increase for the euro zone by June was likely. The euro rose to $1.3616, a level not seen since December 2004, before falling back to $1.3576 in morning European trading.

The pound rose as high as $2.0092, then settled back to $2.0029, down slightly from the $2.0057 it fetched late Wednesday in New York. The dollar also fell against Japanese yen, dropping to 117.93 yen from 118.61 yen late Tuesday.