12:30PM European shares closed at a five-year high.
European markets closed at a five-year high Thursday, boosted by takeover speculation, rebound in commodities prices, and interest-rate increases in line with expectations. The Bank of England kept rates unchanged, while the European Central Bank raised its key interest rate to 3.25%, as previously anticipated. London FTSE 100 closed up 0.6%, with Corus Group rising 16% amid hopes that it will enter into a deal with India''s Tata Steel. Other deal news came from Aer Lingus which jumped 15% on news Ryanair Holdings had offered to buy the firm for 1.48 billion euros. Among energy stocks, BG Group shares rose 3.4%, while miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton gained 3.6% and 4.1% respectively. The German DAX 30 rose 0.5% The French CAC 40 advanced 0.6%, helped by automakers. Renault gained 0.9% after the three-way alliance talks with Nissan Motors and General Motors failed.

Oil prices climbed back above $60 after the OPEC said it will cut production by one million barrels a day as soon as possible. Light sweet crude November delivery jumped $1.56 to $60.97. The U.S. dollar traded mixed versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2683, down from $1.2713. The dollar bought 117.74 yen, down from 117.89. The British pound stood at $1.8769, down from $1.8864. European gold prices recovered. In London the precious metal traded at $568.55, down from $561.60 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $569.20, up from $568.25. Silver closed at $10.90, up from $10.50.


11:30AM Market turned in a lackluster performance.
Following two consecutive sessions of gains, with the Dow Jones hitting a record high, the U.S. stock markets turned in a lackluster performance in morning trading Thursday. Investors turned to profit taking, awaiting employment data in the month of September, due out Friday. A rebound in oil and metals prices boosted energy and commodities stocks. Meanwhile, retail shares declined, despite generally strong September same-store sales.

Among Thursday’s movers, shares in Marriott International (MAR: chart) rose 3.6% after the hotel chain released an upbeat profit outlook. Pharmaceutical company Wyeth (WYE: chart) raised its profit forecast for the year, citing strong performance of some of its key drugs. Nonetheless, the stock fell 0.4%. In morning trading, the Dow fell 13.93, or 0.12%, to 11,836.68. The S&P 500 index fell 0.65, or 0.05, to 1,349.57, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.98, or 0.13%, to 2,293.93. Bonds fell as stocks wavered, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note at 4.61%, up from 4.56% Thursday.


10:30AM The Sensex advances 1.52% in across-the-board rally on Thursday.
The Sensex on BSE gained 185.40 points, or 1.52%, to close at 12,389.41. The market-breadth was very strong. For 1,832 shares that advanced, 677 declined and 74 shares remained unchanged. From the 30-issue Sensex stocks, 26 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,665 crore, higher than Rs 3,416 crore on Wednesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 7,363.75 crore.

The rupee advanced on Thursday as the U.S. dollar slipped against other major currencies, and supported by higher Asian stock markets buoying the local currency. Robust capital inflows have given the rupee a 3% boost from a three-year low of 47.04 struck in July. Investors expect these inflows to continue as the central bank maintains a hawkish stance on rates and growth momentum continues.

In what would be the biggest ever acquisition by an Indian company, Tata Steel is reportedly in negotiations to acquire Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus for $10.5 billion.

NYSE may buy 26% stake in BSE, as BSE has already started a process to dilute equity stakes of its member brokers as part of the SEBI’s demutualization scheme, allowing for separate ownership from trading rights.

Most active

Mahindra Gesco Developers was the most-active stock on BSE, with a turnover of Rs 217.94 crore. Reliance Industries (Rs 134.02 crore), Atlanta (Rs 96.35 crore), and Gwalior Chemicals (Rs 76.54 crore) followed close.

Advancers

HDFC Bank led the advancers, up 3.98%, to Rs 928 on a volume of 97,778 shares. The stock experienced high volatility with intra-day high of Rs 975 and low at Rs 900.10. Index heavy Reliance Industries was up 0.58%, to Rs 1,156, on 11.57 lakh shares after reaching high of Rs 1,164.

IT leader Infosys Technologies surged 3.32% to Rs 1,863, on 2.09 lakh shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1,870 and Rs 1,818 for the day. Mahindra Gesco Developers soared 4.44% to Rs 849.50, on 25.77 lakh shares, after the company said it will raise Rs 480 crore by issuing 60 lakh shares at Rs 800 each, to institutional investors.

Reliance Communications advanced 2.55% to Rs 348.25, SBI was up 2.36% to Rs 1,038.90 and Tata Steel jumped 3.11% to Rs 539.65. Satyam Computer surged 1.76% to Rs 817, on expectations that the pharma industry contribution to revenue will grow from 7% to 10%, in the next two years.

Ahlcon Parenterals (up 20% to Rs 64.95), Moser Baer (up 18.89% to Rs 249.20), Petronet LNG (up 20% to Rs 57.90), D Link India (up 19.58% to Rs 102), Triveni Glass (up 14.76% to Rs 38.10) and Tube Investments (up 11.55% to Rs 92.70) also surged.

IT stocks were in high demand today on renewed buying interest, ahead of their second quarter results. Infotech Enterprises (up 2.43% to Rs 211.15), Wipro (up 2.18% to Rs 520.20), Polaris (up 6.37% to Rs 131), Patni Computers (up 1.85% to Rs 389) and TCS (up 0.80% to Rs 996) gained.

Tyre stocks rose despite the fall of price of rubber. Apollo Tyres (up 7.62% to Rs 344.75), JK Industries (up 10% to Rs 147.85), Goodyear India (up 5% to Rs 141.15), CEAT (up 5% to Rs 122.05), Falcon Tyres (up 7.53% to Rs 116.40), TVS Srichakra (up 5% to Rs 108.95) and MRF (up 5% to Rs 4066.05) advanced.

Decliners