Decliners

Pharma shares declined on intense selling pressure. Ranbaxy Laboratories lost 3.5% to Rs 345.30, leading the decliners. Dr Reddy’s shed 2.6% to Rs 701.25.

Cement stocks finished also lower. ACC lost 2% to Rs 731.7 Gujarat Ambuja Cements declined 1.3% to Rs 107.9. Other decliners included HDFC and Reliance Communications down around 1.5% each to Rs 1,583 and Rs 413, respectively.

IT large-cap Infosys Technologies declined 0.41% to Rs 1,190, after reaching a high of Rs 2,038, ahead of its Q4 March 2007 results, due on Friday, April 13, 2007. Satyam Computers also lost 0.8% to Rs 441.6.


6:30AM European markets were higher on Wednesday with oil stocks leading the advancers
European markets advanced in mid-morning trade on Wednesday. Frankfurt was up 0.3% at 7,184.42, while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.2% to 5,778.51 and London FTSE 100 was 0.2% higher at 6,427.6.

Advancers

Royal Dutch Shell was an important advancer as announced it was to pay $352.6 million, including administrative costs, to settle claims lodged by European and other non-US investors related to the shock reserves downgrade of the company in 2004. Relief that the company had now put the episode behind it supported the shares rally of 0.9%.

Other companies jumped on Royal Dutch Shell’s bandwagon and also advanced. Total of France gained 0.9%, Austrian OMV added 1.3% and Norwegian Statoil climbed 0.9%.

The fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz climbed 1.4% after the company announced it could increase efficiency and maintain the gross profit margin of nearly 59%.

Decliners

Another french fashion group, PPR, shed 2.1%, though, following Tuesday announcement it was bidding $7.1 billion for German sportswear maker Puma. JPMorgan cut its rating on PPR from overweight to neutral and lowered its price target.

Oil and precious metals

Crude oil traded near $62 a barrel in New York on speculation U.S. stockpiles of gasoline dropped for a ninth week. Crude oil for May delivery was up 5 cents at $61.94 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in early trade in London. Brent crude for May settlement gained 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $67.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Silver rose for a third consecutive day on increased demand for industrial metals. Gold was little changed after surging 1.1% yesterday. Silver for immediate delivery climbed 4.5 cents, or 0.3%, to $13.92 an ounce in early trade in London. Gold gained 43 cents to $678.32 an ounce after adding $7.15 yesterday. Palladium dropped $1.50 to $359.50 and platinum fell 50 cents to $1,263.

Currencies

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading Wednesday morning. The euro traded at $1.3426, up from 1.3424. The British pound was at $1.9779, up from $1.9716. The dollar bought 119.25 Japanese yen, up from 119.12.