Tata Motors rallied 4% to Rs 745 and was the leading gainer on reports that the company may list its profit-making arms.

Auto shares surged on expectations that the RBI will not raise interest rates in near future, as 50% to 75% of sales in the auto sector are derived from loan funds. Maruti surged 2.4% to Rs 813. Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 1.2% to Rs 788 and Bajaj Auto ended up 1.1% to Rs 2,128.

IT stocks also rallied, as the market considered the IT sector performance as being underestimated recently, given the strong core potential of the tech shares. Infosys advanced 1.3% to Rs 2,020. Satyam added 1% to Rs 497.

Infosys Technologies is expected to earn in the first quarter ending in June at least Rs 980 crore, a 4% decline in earnings on 2% rise in revenue from the previous quarter. The company profits are expected to jump 25% in the quarter from a year ago. In the first quarter a year ago company reported earnings of Rs 800 crore. The company is expected to lower its annual earnings guidance for the fiscal year.


Decliners of the Day

Banking, cement and telecom shares were under pressure today. Reliance Communications led the decliners plunging 1.8% to Rs 543 and HDFC Bank dipped 1.7% to Rs 1,148.

In cement stocks, Grasim lost 1.5% to Rs 2,727 and Ambuja Cements dropped 1.4% to Rs 130. Engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro shed 1.1% to Rs 2,389, separately company was awarded Rs 542-crore order from Indian Oil Corporation.

SBI slipped 1.3% to Rs 1,551 and Bharti Airtel also dropped nearly 1.3% to Rs 872. Index heavy Reliance Industries lost 0.5% to Rs 1,702.


6:30AM European markets are lower Tuesday dragged by poor performance by Home Depot.

All three major bourses were lower on Tuesday.

In London, FTSE 100 shed 0.2% at 6,700.80. U.K. stocks fell, led by Antofagasta, Xstrata and BHP Billiton Ltd. as copper prices reversed earlier gains in Asia. BHP Billiton dropped 1.2%. Marks & Spencer Group limited declines after the company beat analysts estimates and advanced 2.9%. Next also advanced 1.3%. Unilever climbed 3.7% amid takeovers in the food industry. Wolseley slipped 2.3% after U.S.-based Home Depot lowered its profit forecast.

In Germany, DAX 30 lost 0.3% at 8,051.82. DaimlerChrysler gained 1.8% as UBS raised its price target to 90 euros from 75 euros and kept its buy rating. The broker suggested six ways to improve Daimler truck division, including a sale of its Japanese business Fuso and job reductions in Germany.

In France, the CAC 40 dipped 0.3% at 6,085.28. Carrefour declined 0.8% ahead of the release of the first-quarter revenue of the French supermarket chain, due out after the Paris close. In another development, Groupe Danone offered to buy Royal Numico $16.8 billion in cash to gain the biggest share of the baby-food market in Europe. Numico shot up 23.5%, while Danone lost 1%.