Indiabulls Real Estate was the most-active stocks with a turnover of Rs 190 crore followed by Page Industries and Tata Steel.

Advancers

HDFC led the gainers today, soaring 5.3% to Rs 1,680. Tata Steel surged 2.5% to Rs 576. The stock traded lower from the session high of Rs 584.70. Tata Steel is to report strong numbers when it unveils its fiscal 2007 results on May 17 2007 on higher steel prices.

HDFC Bank and ITC rallied 1.7% each to Rs 1,014 and Rs 163, respectively. Bajaj Auto and Hindalco gained around 1.5% each to Rs 2,604 and Rs 146, respectively. Hero Honda also finished 0.5% higher at Rs 705.

Decliners

Oil exploration large-cap ONGC led decliners, losing 2.2% to Rs 889, in contrast to an early 2.2% increase in the stock to Rs 929.70 that was sparked by reports the government had decided to cut the subsidy share of upstream companies by nearly Rs 5,000 crore.

NTPC slipped over 2% to Rs 151 and Ranbaxy dropped 1.8% to Rs 386. Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro declined around 1% each at Rs 714 and Rs 1,691, respectively. Index heavy Reliance Industries was down around 1% at Rs 1,581.

Auto maker Maruti Udyog declined 1% to Rs 795. The stock had advanced 1.1% to Rs 835 in early trade. The Group of Ministers will probably finish today the selling of the government 10.27% stake in the car maker. The stake is to be sold to banks, mutual funds, and financial institutions.


6:30AM European markets were little changed Thursday ahead of important rate decisions.

The U.K. FTSE 100 index edged down 0.1% at 6,545.80, the German DAX Xetra 30 index was up 0.1% at 7,483.90 and the French CAC-40 index traded 0.1% lower at 6,045.08. National benchmarks decreased in all of the 17 western European markets that were open except Denmark, Greece and Luxembourg.

Economic news

The Bank of England is expected to hike rates by a quarter point to 5.5% in an attempt to curb inflation, while the European Central Bank is expected to keep rates on hold at 3.75% while at the same time hinting at a June rate increase.

Advancers

Hammerson shares rallied 8.6% after reports that New York-based buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust may bid for the U.K. owner of malls and offices.

Premiere shares advanced 2.6% after it reversed to a profit of 4.5 million euros in the first quarter of the year. Last year, it posted a loss of 18.3 million euros.

BMW climbed 2.6% after Goldman, Sachs & Co. added the shares of the world biggest luxury carmaker to its conviction buy list and lifted its price estimate.

Decliners

French bank Societe Generale plunged 2.5% after its first-quarter profit dropped 2% to 1.43 billion euros on a decline in retail and corporate and investment banking performance, a drop in equity portfolio income and the negative impact from marking-to-market interest rate swaps.

Rio Tinto, mining company, lost 2.4%. BHP Billiton, the world biggest mining company, declined 2.6%. E.ON dropped 1.1% and RWE declined 1.3 %.