1:00PM European markets closed mostly higher, helped by Ericsson and Arcelor-Mittal.
European stocks closed mostly in the positive Wednesday, lifted by takeover activity from Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson and steel giant Arcelor-Mittal. Ericsson shares rose 1.3% after the world''s largest maker of mobile-phone networks agreed to buy Redback Networks Inc. for $2.1 billion in cash. Steelmaker Arcelor-Mittal rose 2.4% in France after it agreed to acquire Mexico''s Sicartsa for $1.44 billion, continuing the steel-industry consolidation trend. In the aerospace sector, shares of Airbus parent EADS rose 4.1% after the company said its Airbus 400M military transport aircraft program is ‘continuing to fully meet its targets.’ On the side of the losers, shares in HMV Group closed down 4.8% after the U.K. book and music retailer warned that annual profit would come at the low end of market expectations. The French CAC 40 climbed 0.5%, the DAX 30 also gained 0.5%, while London FTSE 100 fell 0.1%.

Crude oil prices gained following a sharper-than-expected decline in U.S. oil inventories. Crude oil January contract rose 33 cents to $63.80 a barrel. Gasoline fell to $1.6905. Natural gas futures slipped 15 cents to $6.935 per 1,000 cubic feet. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3193, up from $1.3192. The dollar bought 118.19 yen, up from 118.08. The British pound was quoted at $1.9682, down from $1.9684. European gold prices were mixed. In London, gold traded at $620.66 per troy ounce, up from $620.20. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $618.10 per ounce, down from $619.95. Silver closed at $12.47, down from $12.61.


11:30AM Market was driven higher by merger activity.
Stock market averages gained ground in late Wednesday trading, driven higher by a flurry of merger deals which helped offset disappointing forecasts from Fedex Corp. and Palm Inc. Harrah''s Entertainment (HET: chart) rose 0.6% after it agreed to be bought by private-equity firms. Telecoms equipment provider Ericsson (ERIC: chart) added 1% after it agreed to buy Redback Networks for $2.1 B. Steel giant Arcelor Mittal (MT: chart) rose 1% on news that it is buying Mexico''s Sicartsa from Grupo Villacero for $1.44 billion. Again in the M&A news, M&F WorldWide Corp. (MFW: chart) agreed to buy John H. Harland (JH: chart) for $1.7 billion cash, or $52.75 a share. The offer is a premium of 19% above its Tuesday closing price of $44.47. Shares of M&F rose 3.7%, while John H. Harland climbed 12%. Shares of the NYSE fell 1.6% after its shareholders approved the exchange''s merger with Euronext.

On the earnings news front, FedEx (FDX: chart) fell 2.6% after reporting a 9% gain in Q2 income, but a disappointing Q3 earnings estimate. Palm (PALM: chart) was another decliner, down 1% after posting a sharp drop in earnings, in line with expectations, but disappointed investors with its forecast for the current quarter. On a positive note, used car dealer CarMax (CMX: chart) rose 9.6% after its Q3 earnings nearly doubled on strong sales to the wholesale market and strong demand for trucks and sport utility vehicles. In late morning trading Wednesday, the Dow rose 24.51, or 0.20 percent, at 12,475.83. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 2.89, or 0.20%, at 1,428.44 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.12, or 0.46%, to 2,440.67. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60% from 4.59% late Tuesday.


10:30AM The Sensex declined Wednesday amid a highly volatile session.
The Sensex on BSE finished 41.80 points, or 0.31%, lower at 13,340.21. The benchmark index traded within a range of 335 points. The market-breadth was negative. As 1,465 shares declined, 1,094 advanced and 83 remained unchanged. From the Sensex stocks 21 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,383 crore, higher than Rs 4,183 crore on Tuesday.On NSE, the turnover amounted to Rs 10,066.83 crore, up from Rs 9,066.2 crore yesterday.

Economic news

Arcelor Mittal, the largest steelmaker in the world, which is still in the process of completing $33 billion merger, said it had agreed to purchase for $1.45 billion Grupo Villacero for Sicartsa of Mexico.

Trying to improve transparency, the Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to publish separate profit and loss account for different business segments like retail and wholesale.

IPO

Sobha Developers made a remakable debut closing with 51% gain. Ruchira Papers made a flat debut, easing 9% from its issue price.

Most-active stocks

Sobha Developers was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 710.90 crore followed by Tech Mahindra and Reliance Industries.

Advancers

Tata Steel led the advancers, up 2.30% to Rs 465. It bounced back from low of Rs 450.10, advancing after Britain takeover agency set January 30, 2007 deadline on Tuesday for Tata Steel and CSN of Brazil to make revised offers for steelmaker Corus Group.

Sobha Developers closed at Rs 968.75 on BSE above its IPO price of Rs 640. The stock opened at Rs 1,111.25 and reached Rs 1,179 before closing.

Cipla gained 1.24% to Rs 24, Maruti Udyog advanced 1.73% to Rs 925 and HDFC rose 1.97% to Rs 1,580.

ITC advanced 1.13% to Rs 170.25 following reports that it will expand its fruit and vegetable retail and wholesale business by opening 54 new outlets in select metros in next three years.

Tech Mahindra surged 7.18% to Rs 1,238.10 on intense buying in expectation of strong financial performance for third-quarter December 2006.