Auto shares declined. Car large-cap Maruti Udyog lost 2.9% to Rs 760, Tata Motors lost 1.5% to Rs 710 and Hero Honda shed 1.4% to Rs 631.10.

Banks lost under selling pressure. State Bank of India shed 1.3% to Rs 968.45 and ICICI Bank lost 1.1% to Rs 849. Banking credit growth dropped to 27% in 2006-07 from 29.6% growth a year earlier, as a result of tighter monetary policy since December 2006.


7:00AM European markets were lower on Thursday on a weak US market close overnight.
European markets were lower on Thursday. By mid morning, Frankfurt Xetra Dax slipped 0.4% to 7,122.27, the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.5% to 5,720.98 and London FTSE 100 lost 0.4% to 6,390.2. National benchmarks fell in all 18 western European markets.

Advancers

ThyssenKrupp, the German steelmaker, gained 1.8% after saying it expected pre-tax profit growth of at least 4 billion euros in the mid term.

Carrefour, the French retailer, reported after the close on Wednesday a 5.2% rise in first-quarter sales, and reiterated that it may review calls for a sale of some of its property assets. Shares slipped 0.2%.

Carphone Warehouse Group rose 0.5%. Europe largest mobile-phone retailer has withdrawn from the auction for Pipex Communications, a U.K. broadband firm with 600,000 subscribers.

SABMiller gained 1.6% after the brewer of Pilsner Urquell and Miller Lite stated it sold 10% more beer in its past fiscal year, excluding the effects of acquisitions, as demand increased in South America and China.

Decliners

Eiffage, the French construction company, led the decliners on expectations that a large stake in the company will be sold by Spanish rival Sacyr Vallehermoso, which owns 33% of the shares. Eiffage shares fell 6.7%. Shares in Sacyr Vallehermoso fell 2.7% as investors took profits after two days of gains.

DaimlerChrysler dropped 2.2%. Lafarge, the world largest cement maker, decreased 1.3%. The U.S. is the biggest market for Daimler while the Americas account for the second-biggest slice of the sales of Lafarge.

Siemens AG, engineering company, dropped 1.6%. Siemens said the one-month delay for the spinoff of its VDO automotive parts unit won''''t have an impact on the planned initial public offering of the division.

Oil and precious metals

Oil rose for a third day as a report that U.S. refineries were raising production spurred expectations demand for crude will grow. Oil for May delivery rose as much as 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $62.42 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $62.36. Brent crude for May settlement rose as much as 35 cents, or 0.5%, to $68.19 a barrel in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gold gained on speculation a decline in the dollar against the euro will increase demand for the metal as an alternative investment. Gold for immediate delivery climbed $1.10, or 0.2%, to $678.40 an ounce. Palladium for immediate delivery rose $6, or 1.6%, to $373 an ounce. Silver dropped 3 cents to $13.835 an ounce and platinum advanced $1.50 to $1,269 an ounce.

Currencies

The euro gained slightly on against the dollar on Thursday, trading around two-year highs as the European Central Bank prepared to deliver its verdict on euro-zone interest rates. The euro bought $1.3449 in morning European trading, up from $1.3427 in New York late Wednesday. The British pound fell slightly to $1.9744 from $1.9753, while the dollar rose to 119.42 Japanese yen from 119.30 yen.