1:00PM European markets closed lower, dragged down by mining stocks.
European stocks finished lower on Tuesday, as weakness in mining stocks offset strength in technology companies and a positive start on Wall Street. Some key economic data were also in focus. U.K inflation came in at a reading of 3% in December, up from 2.7%, while the German ZEW indicator of economic sentiment was better than expected. Shares in Lonmin, the world''s third-largest platinum producer, dropped 3.1% after it said it would rebuild one of its furnaces at a cost of $6.5 million. Other miners including Xstrata also declined. Shares of oil major BP plc slipped 1.5% in London, as light sweet crude lost $1.70 to $51.30 a barrel. In contrast, French-Italian chip company STMicroelectronics rose 1.7%, while mobile-phone maker Nokia increased 1.5% after Goldman Sachs upgraded its stock. Shares of electronics giant Phillips rose 1% after its partly owned LCD television maker LG. Philips LCD reported narrower Q4 loss and higher sales. Among other movers of the day, shares in the U.K.''s supermarket group Tesco slipped 1% after a strong recent performance. Shares in French aerospace and mobile phone group Safran rose 4.8% on higher revenue, but luxury goods company PPR dropped 3.2%, and car maker Peugeot fell 1.6%. The German DAX 30 lost 0.2%, the French CAC 40 dropped 0.7%, and London FTSE 100 slipped 0.8%.

Crude oil prices tumbled after OPEC said there was no need of further production cuts to prop up the market. Benchmark light, sweet crude dropped $1.43 to $51.56 a barrel. Heating oil slipped 2 cents to $1.4860 a gallon, while gasoline dropped 4 cents to $1.3890. Natural gas fell 3 cents to $6.572 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent dropped 76 cents to $52.36. The U.S. dollar traded higher against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.2916, down from $1.2933. The dollar bought 120.64 yen, up from 120.46. The British pound was quoted at $1.9600, down from $1.9643. European gold prices were mixed. In London, gold traded at $623.32 per troy ounce, up from $626.04. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $622.50 per ounce, down from $624.80. Silver closed at $12.56, down from $12.83.


11:30AM Market turned to the negative on fading corporate profits optimism.
U.S. stocks turned lower in morning trading, with investors focused on the first wave of Q4 earnings, weak forecasts from Symantec Corp., and further falling crude oil prices. Oil dropped to $51.56 on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia said there was no need for further production cuts to prop up the market. Intel weighed the most on blue-chip stocks, falling 1% ahead of earnings report after market close. Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart) also pressured the Dow, losing 1.3% on weak oil prices. Tech shares came under pressure as Symantec (SYMC: chart) slipped 8.5% on disappointing earnings forecast. Shares of network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO: chart) also weighed on tech stocks, falling 2.7% after Banc of America Securities and Prudential cut their investment ratings on the stock.

On the side of the leaders, Dupont (DD: chart) rose 1.7% and JP Morgan (JPM: chart) added 0.7%. Financial shares were supported by 6% rise for TD Ameritrade (AMTD: chart) which reported 60% profit rise in Q1, helped by trading commissions, interest revenue and fees. Further boost to the sector was given by Commerce Bancshares Inc. (CBSH: chart) which said Q4 net income rose to 80 cents a share, up from 77 cents, a year earlier, exceeding estimates of 76 cents a share. The stock gained 1.2%. In late morning trading, the Dow fell 3.53, or 0.03%, to 12,552.55. The index reached a new trading high of 12,585.08 earlier in the session. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 0.39, or 0.03%, to 1,430.34, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 4.42, or 0.18%, to 2,498.40.


10:30 AM NY-9:30 PM Mumbai The Sensex slipped in lack-luster trade, cement shares firmed up.
The Sensex on BSE finished 14.91 points, or 0.1%, lower at 14,114.73. The market-breadth was positive but it lost some ground compared with the morning trading session. For 1,334 shares that advanced on BSE, 1,321 declined and 50 shares were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 18 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,976 crore, lower than Rs 4,703.78 crore on Monday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,342.69 compared to Rs 8,515.18 crore a day ago.

Economic news

India will lift the overseas commercial borrowing limit for companies to $22 billion in the fiscal year to March 2007 from the current limit of $18 billion, a finance ministry official announced on Tuesday. The ministry will send a formal communication to the Reserve Bank of India in a day or two. This may have been done to facilitate to raise debt to complete Corus acquisition by Tata Steel.

International ratings agency Moody''s Investors Service announced on Tuesday it would not change the ratings outlook of India, as the large public debt was a hindrance for domestic currency rating to be upgraded.

Trading highlights

IFCI was the most-active stocks with a turnover of Rs 103.53 crore followed by Tech Mahindra and Reliance Natural Resources.

Advancers

BHEL advanced 1.96% to Rs 2,265.10 and was the main advancer for the day. Wipro gained ahead of its Q3 results, which will be released tomorrow morning. The stock added 1.5% to Rs 637. Bajaj Auto turned volatile after it announced Q3 results. The stock firmed up 0.3% to Rs 2,776 for the day. Net profit rose 24% in December 2006 quarter to Rs 345 crore from Rs 279 crore. Net sales advanced to Rs 2,568.23 crore, a rise of 28% from a year ago.

Cement companies were in favor on hopes of strong Q3 results. ACC advanced 1.4% to Rs 1,099, Grasim gained 1.1% to Rs 2,875 and Gujarat Ambuja Cements added 0.4% to Rs 144.25.

Cellular services company Bharti Airtel rose almost 1% to Rs 668, keeping momentum on expectations of strong Q3 results. L&T advanced 1.3% to Rs 1,520. The stock struck a high of Rs 1,525.

Mahindra & Mahindra jumped 3% to Rs 983. The company announced on Tuesday it will build a new plant worth Rs 2,500 crore to make vehicles for its joint venture with Navistar International Corp. CMC soared 23% to Rs 1,119, rising for the second straight day after it reported strong Q3 results on last Saturday.

HCL Tech spurted 1.3% to Rs 638, after it posted a stronger-than-expected 14.4% growth in consolidated net profit as per US GAAP in Q2 December 2006 to Rs 286.20 crore. Revenue grew 6.2% to Rs 1,465.10 crore, meeting market expectation. Cairn India rose nearly 1% to Rs 142.45, extending its surge on Monday.

Decliners

Housing finance large-cap HDFC led the decliners, down 2.5% to Rs 1,555. State Bank of India lost nearly 1% to Rs 1,211, after SBI chairman announced the loan growth of the bank in April-December 2006 period was between 16% and 17% compared with a nearly 30% increase for the banking sector.