Divi''s Lab was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 165 crore followed by Reliance Capital and Educomp Solutions.

Advancers

Cement major Gujarat Ambuja Cements advanced 4.6% to Rs 118, led the gainers. Other cement stocks gained as cement shortage is expected to last for the next two years. ACC was up 0.8% to Rs 850 and Grasim advanced 3.1% to Rs 2,513.

State Bank of India rallied nearly 4% to Rs 1,425 on the news that the bank plans to sell $225 million abroad in perpetual bonds. HDFC gained 2% to Rs 1,812. ICICI Bank added 0.4%, to Rs 948 after the reports that the Singapore government intends to buy about 40% of ICICI record share sale.

Autos were in focus. Tata Motors rallied 3.5% to Rs 686. Tata Motors intends to raise $450 million overseas by selling shares to meet the capital and product development expenditure in view of its growth projects. Maruti advanced nearly 3% to Rs 773, and Bajaj Auto added 2% to Rs 2,162.

BHEL and Larsen & Toubro ended up around 1.7% each to Rs 1,430 and Rs 2,028, respectively. Index heavy Reliance Industries gained 0.3% to Rs 1,732. IT stocks ended mixed with Wipro 0.5% to Rs 524 higher and Satyam Computers, up 0.7% to Rs 472.

Decliners

Ranbaxy plunged 2% to Rs 352, and led the few decliners. TCS dropped 1.3% to Rs 1,146. Hindustan Lever lost 0.3% to Rs 189 and Infosys dipped 0.1% to Rs 1,954.


[R]6:30AM European market gain Wednesday on strength in banking stocks, insurers.[/R]

European markets advanced on Wednesday morning. The German DAX index rose 0.9% to 8,100,66 after striking a seven-year high of 8,104.39 early in the session, while the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.5% to 6,099.46. The U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5% to 6,682.50. National benchmarks advanced in all of the 17 western European markets that were open.

Advancers

Car maker Renault gained %, while Allianz of Germany advanced 2.6%. HSBC gained 1.1 %. Lower bond yields increase the value of debt owned by insurers and banks. Clariant, the world''s second-largest maker of specialty chemicals, climbed 2.2%
Misys, a U.K. provider of software for banks and hospitals, rose 3% after the company reported fiscal 2007 earnings and margins topping estimates..

Decliners

Swedish clothing chain H&M slipped 4% after it reported that second-quarter sales and profits just missed expectations. Still, the shares have been trading strongly in the past few years and touched a 10- year high in April.

DSG International, the operator of electronics retailers under the PC World and Currys names, announced annual adjusted profit before tax dropped 5% to 295.1 million pounds, in line with estimates the company gave in May, while sales rose 14% to 7.93 billion pounds.

Commodities

Oil prices declined Wednesday on caution that a U.S. fuel supplies report due later in the session will show increases in oil product inventories but a fall in crude oil stocks. Crude oil for July delivery, which expires later Wednesday, lost 15 cents to $68.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold fell for the first time in a week as a decline in the price of oil diminished the appeal of the precious metal. Gold declined $1.80, or 0.3%, to $659.65 an ounce, the first drop since June 12. Silver fell 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $13.31 an ounce.

Currencies