12:30PM European shares closed in the red.
European markets finished in the red, pressured by oil-producing companies, as crude oil prices dropped to a ten-moth low below $59 a barrel. Sales warning from chipmaker Marvell Technology further weighed on sentiment, dragging tech stocks lower. Marvell dropped 14% after cutting its sales outlook and saying it plans to restate past financial results due to accounting errors. Shares of Infineon Technologies declined by 0.6% helping the German DAX 30 close down 0.1%. Lower crude oil prices provided some support to the automotive sector, with Volkswagen, up 1.5% and BMW, up 0.7%. The French CAC 40 dropped 0.5%, hurt by losses for chipmaker STMicroelectronics and oil major Total. London FTSE 100 fell 0.4%. BP slid 2.4%, Total fell 1.4%, and Eni lost 1.6% after Societe Generale downgraded its stance on the three European oil producers.

Oil prices dropped to a ten-month low on strong fuel supplies. Light sweet crude November delivery lost $1.88 to $59.15. Heating oil dropped 5 cents to $1.6532 a gallon, while gasoline was down by 4 cents to $1.4725. Natural gas futures slipped nearly 11 cents to $5.538 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent November contract slipped $1.04 to $59.41. The U.S. dollar traded mixed versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2743, up from $1.2742. The dollar bought 117.79 yen, up from 117.60. The British pound stood at $1.8896, up from $1.8866. European gold pulled down. In London the precious metal traded at $581.81, down from $599.90 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $582.05, down from $599.95. Silver closed at $11, down from $11.60.


11:30AM Market turned higher on weaker oil.
The U.S. stock markets rebounded from earlier weakness as a continued decrease by the oil price generated some positive sentiment. Crude oil futures dropped by another $2 to $59 a barrel, giving a boost to oil-sensitive airline stocks and retailer companies, too. At the same time oil giants like Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: chart) and Chevron Corp. (CVX: chart) dropped 1.6% and 1.6% respectively. ConocoPhillips (COP: chart) fell nearly 3% after the company said it expects production for the third quarter to come in about 5% lower than the previous quarter. The company also said it expects worldwide refining margins to be significantly lower than Q2 levels. Semiconductors fell, hurt by a lowered sales outlook from Marvell Technology Group (MRVL: chart) which dropped 14%. Internet, networkers, biotech and gold stocks also moved to the downside.

Among stocks in focus, Pepsi Bottling Group (PEP: chart), the largest bottler of PepsiCo Inc. drinks, tumbled 5.8% after the company reported Q3 earnings growth of $207 million, or 86 cents a share, up from $205 million, or 82 cents a year ago. The per-share results include a 4-cent cost of stock-based compensation and a 5-cent gain from income-tax law changes. In morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 5.76, or 0.05%, at 11,676.11. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 2.36, or 0.18%, at 1,328.96, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 7.47, or 0.33%, to 2,230.13. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.60% from 4.61% late Monday.


10:30AM The Sensex dips in a dull session, dragged down by selling pressure.
The Sensex on BSE finished 88.03 points, or 0.71% lower, to close at 12,366.39. The market-breadth, was positive, but had retreated as profit-taking seized smallcap and midcap stocks. For 1,407 shares that advanced, 1,047 declined and 65 remained unchanged. The turnover on BSE was to Rs 3,079 crore, lower than Friday’s Rs 3,705.68 crore. The turnover on NSE was Rs 5,990.72 crore. From the Sensex stocks, 21 declined while the rest advanced.

Indiabulls Fiancial Services Ltd. Has sold 4.5% to Dubai based and New Zealand brothers owned Sovereign Global Investment Ltd. The Dubai based fund will pay Rs. 302 crores or $66 million. The company share has risen 22-fold since its listing in Sept 2004.

Most active

Mahindra Gesco was the most active stock on BSE, with a turnover of Rs 81.89 crore followed by Tata Steel (Rs 73.51 crore) and Reliance Capital (Rs 72.66 crore).

Advancers

NTPC led the advancers, gaining 2.27% to Rs 133.15. Bajaj Auto rose 0.91% to Rs 3,025.50, Reliance Energy rose 0.61% to Rs 486.50, Tata Motors jumped up 0.57% to Rs 867 and Hindalco gained 0.29% to 171.85. Auto stocks gained on better than expected monthly sales.

Shares of TVS Motor Company rose 1.65%, to Rs 126.50, after it said on Tuesday its September two-wheeler sales advanced to 1,62,200 units from 1,21,108 units a year ago, an increase of 34%. Mahindra & Mahindra gained 0.81%, to Rs 686, after it said on Tuesday its vehicle sales rose 15%.

Metals gained on fresh buying in expectation of prices staying firm. Sesa Goa advanced 8.88% to Rs 1,059, Jindal Stainless gained 3.13% to Rs 111.90, Jindal Saw added 1.56% to Rs 325, Sterlite Industries rose 2% to Rs 445.35, Bhusan Steel surged 10% to Rs 303.60 and Shree Precoated Steel soaredup 10% to Rs 200.20.

Petron Engineering Construction added 5% to Rs 144.15, after securing a letter of intent from Madras Cements for a contract worth Rs 12.43 crore. Hindustan Zinc rose 1.58%, to Rs 603, after the company increased zinc price by Rs 2,000 per tonne, and lead price by Rs 1,100 per tonne.

Decliners

HDFC (down 3.73% to Rs 1,477), HLL (down 2.81% to Rs 249) and Cipla (down 2.33% to Rs 256.15) led the decliners. Index heavy Reliance Industres sagged 0.88%, to Rs 1,160.70, on 5.16 lakh shares. It traded in a range of Rs 1,188 and Rs 1,160.

Maruti Udyog shed 1.20% to Rs 969.45, on 3.47 lakh shares following its statement on Tuesday, that it had sold 59,420 vehicles in September, up 20.6% from 49,278 units in the same month last year. Tata Steel slipped 0.41% to Rs 533.45 after surging to a high of Rs 542.50.

IT stocks were hit by selling pressure. Infosys (down 1.51% to Rs 1,820), TCS (down 1.04% to Rs 1,011) and Wipro (down 1.30% to Rs 518.25) led the decliners in the sector. Bank declined as well. Kotak Mahindra, Karnataka Bank, Oriental Bank, Union Bank and IOB closed lower. Pharma stocks also dipped. Glenmark, Ranbaxy Labs, Pfizer, Sterling Bio and Cipla ended down.