13:00PM European markets dropped on weak auto and mining stocks.
European stock markets closed down on Monday, as investors turned to profit taking mainly in the mining and auto sectors. Negative mood on wall Street in early trading further pushed stocks down. Auto stocks posted losses after a strong performance last month. Volkswagen shares dropped 1.7%, BMW slipped 1.2% and Peugeot declined 1.5%. Germany''s DAX Xetra 30 index closed lower 0.07%, while the French CAC 40 slipped 0.63%. Another drag on the French index was electrical equipment group Schneider Electric which dropped 7.2% after it agreed to buy American Power Conversion. Mining shares also turned weak, weighing on the FTSE 100 index, which finished down 0.55%. Xstrata shares dropped 1.9%, BHP Billiton declined 2.1% and Vedanta Resources dipped 2.2%. Publisher Pearson also weighed on the index, falling 1.5% after updates. Banking stocks were in focus, with Dutch bank ABN Amro falling 0.2%

Crude oil tumbled 3% ahead of weekly inventory data due out on Wednesday, expected to show strong supplies. Crude oil December contract fell $1.99 to $58.76 a barrel. London Brent fell $2.01 to $59.07. Heating oil lost 3 cents to $1.6598 per gallon, while gasoline futures declined 7 cents to $1.49. Natural gas dropped 28 cents to $7.540 per 1,000 cubic feet. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its rival currencies. The euro was quoted at $1.2713, down from $1.2736. The dollar bought 117.42 yen, down from 117.59. The British pound stood at $1.9018, up from $1.8963. European gold prices advanced. In London, gold traded at $606.70 per troy ounce, up from $596.80. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $607.25 per ounce, up from $596.90. Silver closed at $12.14, up from $12.04.


11:30AM A steep oil drop pushed stocks above the flat line.
A steep drop by the oil price helped U.S. stocks recover from earlier weakness, generated by lingering concerns about the strength of the economy and news from Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) of much-weaker-than-expected October same store sales growth. Gains for Boeing (BA: chart), General Motors (GM: chart) and Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ: chart) helped offset declines.

Energy stocks moved notably down as crude oil steeply declined, down 3%, or $1.95 to $58.80 a barrel. At the same time, the price decrease contributed to significant strength in the oil-sensitive airline sector. Health insurance stocks posted significant weakness in morning trading, led by Humana (HUM: chart) which dropped 5.5% after the company reported Q3 earnings that rose sharply year-over-year but came in below analyst estimates. Semiconductors rallied, helped by a broker upgrade for KLA-Tencor (KLAC: chart).

In corporate news, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT: chart) said it plans to close a plant in Tyler, Texas, three weeks after workers at the plant and 15 others went on strike. The move will slash about 1,100 jobs and is part of Goodyear''s strategy to end some of its private label tire business. Shares of the company edged up 0.4%. Halliburton (HAL: chart), oil field services provider, said Monday its board of directors declared a Q4 dividend of 7.5 cents per share.

10:30AM The Sensex finishes above 13,000 points, due to earnings results.
The Sensex on BSE finished 117.45 points or 0.9% higher to end at all-time closing high of 13,024.26. The market-breadth was weak, though, as 1,404 shares declined on BSE and 1,126 shares advanced. 54 shares were unchanged. From the 30-Sensex stocks, 19 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,715.86 crore. The turnover on NSE was Rs 8,423.57 crore.

Economic news

The Reserve Bank of India on Monday announced that underlying inflationary pressures are still present in the economy and it is uncertain whether the recent decline in crude oil prices would be sustained or not.

The government on Monday fixed the minimum support price of wheat at Rs 750 per quintal for the Rabi season, Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced.

Advancers

ICICI Bank led the advancers today, jumping nearly 4% to Rs 788. HDFC Bank also rose 3.3% to Rs 1,031. State Bank of India added 0.3% to Rs 1,096.55. The bank recovered after an initial fall after it reported a 2.5% drop in net profit for second-quarter of September 2006 on Saturday. With a surge in inflation, a section of the market anticipates RBI to raise short-term interest rates by 25 basis points.

Refinery shares gained on higher profits in second-quarter of September 2006 as they accounted for oil bonds to be issued by the government to compensate them for losses coming from selling petroleum products at subsidised rates. HPCL advanced 4% to Rs 319.75, BPCL rose 2.4% to Rs 400.50 and Indian Oil Corporation rose 0.7% to Rs 518.90.

Bharti Airtel has surged 2.7% to Rs 542 for the second day in a row supported by stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, which it released during trading hours on Friday. Reliance Communications rose 2.7% to Rs 395. On a consolidated basis, RCL has posted a net profit of Rs 702.34 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 compared to a net loss of Rs 19 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2005.

Index heavy Reliance Industries edged up 0.7% to Rs 1,232 after it rolled out its first fruit and vegetable store in Hyderabad, launching its $5.6 billion retail plan that includes hypermarkets and malls.
Infosys also jumped 1.4% to Rs 2,128. Oil exploration large-cap ONGC gained 2.4% to Rs 808.25. Dr Reddy’s Lab advanced 2.5% to Rs 749. It reported strong second-quarter results post trading hours on Friday.

National Aluminium Company advanced 4% to Rs 237. The company reported today a jump in net profit for second-quarter, September 2006 to Rs 595 crore (Rs 283 crore) Mahindra & Mahindra soared 3.9% to Rs 790 extending its post results rally. Engineering & construction large-cap L&T rose 2% to Rs 1,297. Hindustan Lever gained 0.7% to Rs 228.10. The company announces second-quarter results tomorrow.


Decliners

Tata Motors led the decliners, losing almost 5% to Rs 842.35. The company today reported 30.1% growth in net profit for second-quarter, September 2006 to Rs 442 crore (Rs 339 crore).

ITC lost 0.5% to Rs 186.75. ITC today posted 18.7% growth in net profit for second-quarter, September 2006 to Rs 679.60 crore (Rs 572.33 crore). ITC second-quarter net profit was below market expectations.