Advancers

ICICI Bank led the few gainers on hopes that its plan to sell stock at a premium to the current share price will focus attention. ICICI announced on June 16 it intends to sell shares for Rs 885 to Rs 950 in the biggest Indian IPO, which opens for subscription on Tuesday, June 19 2007.

State run oil large-cap ONGC advanced 0.7% to Rs 890. The overseas exploration unit of the company, ONGC Videsh, received last week the Cabinet approval to buy a 33% stake in a deep-water gas field in Egypt from Royal Dutch Shell.

Hindalco Industries advanced 0.5% to Rs 162. The aluminium and copper large-cap has proposed to set up a new extrusion press at an investment of Rs 50 crore.

Decliners

Ranbaxy and Hero Honda led the decliners down nearly 4% each to Rs 359 and Rs 654, respectively. Hero Honda has been dropping since reports that it has reduced production on diminished demand as interest rates soared to five-year-high. Tata Steel dropped nearly 2% to Rs 589.

IT stocks declined on a further appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, as these stocks are export-oriented and deal in dollars. Satyam Computers lost 1.2% to Rs 477, Infosys declined 1% to Rs 1989, Wipro lost 1.4% to Rs 523 and TCS dipped 1.5% to Rs 1,167.

Index heavy Reliance Industries shed 0.5% to Rs 1,671. Reportedly, global oil companies including Shell, Exxon and Chevron are considering buying a stake in Reliance Industries’ overseas oil & gas assets.


[R]6:30AM European stocks edge higher in early trading Monday with bid talk in focus.[/R]

European markets were slightly higher by mid-day Monday. The FTSE 100 was steady at 6,733.70, the German DAX 30 rose 0.6% to 8,075.19 and the French CAC 40 rose 0.1% to 6,109.01.

Advancers

BHP Billiton gained 0.8%. The biggest miner in the world advanced, as it has reportedly revived plans for a $40 billion takeover of Alcoa. EADS added 1.5% amid reports that its Airbus unit is on the verge of winning two big orders, a US Airways order for 30 A350s and an Emirates order for 10 A380s.

Decliners

Akzo Nobel shed 1.3% in Holland after its 7.2-billion-pound approach for ICI was rejected. Pearson edged 1.1% lower after a report that it and General Electric are considering a joint offer for Dow Jones the owner of the Journal as well as MarketWatch.

Siemens, largest maker of equipment to make electricity in Germany, slid 1.2% and Telefonica, biggest telephone company in Spain, dropped 1.3%.

Commodities

Crude oil fell from a nine-month high in New York amid some signs violence in Nigeria will ease, allowing the country to restore some lost production. Crude oil for July delivery fell as much as 35 cents to $67.65 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil for August settlement fell 40 cents to $71.07 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gold for immediate delivery gained as much as $1.91, or 0.3%, to $657.25 an ounce. Silver for immediate delivery rose 6 cents, or 0.4%, to $13.29 an ounce. Copper for delivery in three months on the LME gained $90, or 1.2%, to $7,590 a metric ton.

Platinum gained the most in two weeks after Anglo Platinum of South Africa, the world biggest producer, stopped production at its largest mine following the deaths of five workers in the past two weeks.. Platinum for immediate delivery gained $12, or 0.9%, to $1,294 an ounce. Palladium also advanced $1.50 to $371 an ounce.