Ford Motor is in advanced talks with Tata Group of India to sell its luxury division. The division includes brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover, has struggled in the past on high operating cost, strategic focus, and rising competition from German makers.

Monsanto (MON: chart) jumped 5% to $5.65 to $117.19 after it released its first quarter earnings.

The company reported net sales of $2.1 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, which were 36 percent higher than those in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007. The results in the quarter reflect the strong performance of the company''s businesses outside the United States.

Key drivers for the quarter were increased sales of agricultural herbicides in Brazil, Argentina and Europe, as well as stronger adoption of the company''s seed and trait technologies in Brazil and Argentina.

For the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, Monsanto recorded net income of $256 million compared with net income of $90 million for the same period last year. Earnings per share for the quarter, both on an as-reported and ongoing basis, were 46 cents a share compared to 16 cents a year ago.

The company raised its annual earnings guidance between $2.50 and $2.60 per share.


9:00AM New York, 7:30PM Mumbai - Sensex stocks fell, dragged by cement and IT shares.

On the second day of 2008, the Sensex on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell on loses recorded in cement and IT shares and in large cap stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex eased 0.6% or 120.10 at 20,345.20 and CNX Nifty fell 0.1% to 6,178.55.

Cement stocks declined on heavy selling following government''s warning that it will take over all cement factories, which defy its directive to control cement prices.

Grasim led the losers from the Sensex index. The stock plunged 4% to 3,606 rupees. ACC fell 1.8% to 1,004 rupees, India Cements retreated 2.9% to 298 rupees while Ambuja Cements fell 1.7% to 146 rupees.

IT shares also extended their recent loses on the BSE. Loses were also visible in TCS Wipro, Satyam Computers and Infosys Technologies.

Oil exploration shares were on rise on surging crude oil price while oil marketing stock traded higher on the local news reports that government was considering cutting exercise duty on oil firms to reduce tax recoveries in oil firms.

Of the stocks traded on the BSE, 1,677 shares advanced, 1,199 stocks declined and 25 remained unchanged. Among the index shares, 24 advanced while the rest fell.

On BSE, 6.07 lakh shares were traded.

Turnover on the BSE stood at 10,785 crore rupees, lifted Reliance Natural Resources was the top traded stock on the BSE. It netted a turnover of 521.85 crore rupees. Burnpur Cement revenues stood at 462.58 crore rupees, Reliance Energy turnover was 395.39 rupees.

The National Stock Exchange revenue stood at 24,710 crore rupees.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong''s Hang Seng slid 2.4% at 26,887.28, Taiwan''s Taiwan Weighted fell 1.7% at 8,184.20, Singapore''s Straits Times shed 1.9% at 3,397.06 and South Korea''s Kospi retreated 0.04% at 1,852.5.

Government is considering a marginal increase in fuel prices to reduce losses for oil utilities in light of the soaring crude oil price. Crude oil for February delivery increased $3.64, or 3.8%, to $99.62 per barrel after touching $100 per barrel earlier in the session on Wednesday.