The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange rose 0.3% to close at 7,757.03 and Singapore's Straits Times Index advanced 1.25% to finish at 3,155.69. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% at 5,861.9 after hitting 5,906.7 in early trading.

South Korean shares ended flat as losses in LG.Philips LCD and LG Card countered strong gains by Hynix Semiconductor and shipbuilders. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, closed down 0.1%, at 1,442.85.


9:45AM Wall Street opened slightly up ahead of Fed Reserve’s rate decision.
Wall Street opened slightly higher Wednesday, reflecting positive sentiment generated by strong earnings reports from Morgan Stanley and Oracle, as well as cautiousness ahead of the Fed Reserve's interest-rate decision. Wall Street largely expects the Fed will leave short-term interest rates unchanged at 5.25%. Morgan Stanley (MS: chart) gained 2.3% after the bank posted a 70% rise in profit in Q1, well above estimates. Software stocks showed considerable strength, pushing the Nasdaq higher. Oracle (ORCL: chart) rose 3.7% after reporting a better-than-forecast 35% jump in quarterly profit. Among other earnings-related gainers in the sector, Adobe Systems (ADBE: chart) climbed 3.7% after it reported a 37% profit rise, although sales dropped more than predicted. In contrast, shares in FedEx (FDX: chart) stock dropped 1.9%, as the company said its Q3 earnings fell 2% to $1.35 a share, from $1.38 a share a year earlier

Airline stocks moved higher after JetBlue Airways (JBLU: chart) confirmed its outlook of a minus-2% to minus-4% operating margin in Q1. It also predicted that its 2007 operating margin would be 7% to 9%. The stock rose 1.7. SanDisk (SNDK: chart) gained 3.9%, as the chipmaker and Hynix Semiconductor announced a patent cross-license pact. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.69, or 0.06%, to 12,280.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.80, or 0.06%, to 1,411.74, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 3.84, or 0.16%, to 2,412.05. Bonds fell ahead of the Fed decision. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.59% from 4.55% late Tuesday.


9:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex surges Wednesday, ICICI Bank rallies.
The Sensex on BSE finished 239.94 points, or 1.89%, higher at 12,945.88. The market-breadth was not strong though. For 1,155 stocks that advanced, 1,370 declined and 103 remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex 24 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 2,729.96 crore, lower than Rs 2,910.12 crore on Tuesday, while on NSE the turnover was Rs 5,839.09 crore, also lower than Rs 6,056.26 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

Idea Cellular today signed an outsourcing deal with IBM valued at $600-$800 million (Rs 2,640 – Rs 3,520 crore). The 10-year pact is designed on an innovative risk-reward revenue sharing model and covers all of the existing operations and potential new additions of Idea. The contract starts from April 1, 2007 and will be completed in phases.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Wednesday it had reduced the fee paid by all telecoms users to fund loss-making rural network expansion by state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Besides, the regulator also abolished the ADC on all outgoing international calls from a previous 0.8 rupees per minute.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram announced on Wednesday that the current cash squeeze in the banking system was due to the quarterly tax payments and it will ease in the coming days.

Earnings news

After trading hours on Tuesday, Nestle India reported a 15.7% decline in net profit in the December 2006 quarter to Rs 62.46 crore, compared to a net profit of Rs 74.16 crore for the same period the previous year.

Trading highlights

MindTree was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 204.70 crore followed by Reliance and Reliance Communications.

Advancers

Banking stocks led the advancers on renewed buying interest. The shares extended the rally on Tuesday for the second consecutive session. ICICI Bank was the major gainer in BSE. The stock gained 5.6% to Rs 870.3. State Bank of India gained 3.1% to Rs 982.2, and HDFC Bank rose 1.2% to Rs 966.

Telecom shares also rose after the decision of TRAI to reduce Access Deficit Charge, or ADC, to Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 3,200 crore for the next financial year. Bharti Airtel rose 3.2% to Rs 762 and Reliance Communication climbed 2.4% to Rs 410. The other market advancers in the Sensex were Hindustan Lever which rose 3.7% to Rs 190 and Reliance Energy jumped up 3.1% to Rs 491.

IT shares gained ahead of a robust set of March quarter results and some large order wins. Satyam Computer was up 1.8% to Rs 453.90, TCS gained 1.2% to Rs 1,268, Wipro added 1.5% to Rs 582 and Infosys advanced 2.1% to Rs 2,098. Index heavy Reliance Industries advanced 1.59% to Rs 1,342.

Decliners