[R]1:00PM European markets closed steeply higher as ECB kept rates unchanged.[/R]
European stocks closed notably higher on Thursday as the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged, prompting rate increases are not expected in the following couple of months. A strong opening for U.S. stock markets also provided support. The German DAX 30 climbed 1.8%, the French CAC 40 surged 2%, while London FTSE 100 gained only 1.1% due to a surprising key interest rate increase to 5.25% by the Bank of England. Gains for the U.K. index were limited by the banking sector and home builders as investors worried about the ability of consumers to service debt. Mortgage banks HBOS and Bradford & Bingley closed lower, while the U.K.''s biggest home builder Persimmon lost 1%.

The broad market benefited from strength among resource stocks as copper and gold prices gained some ground. Mining companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto climbed over 3%. Exporter issues like technology shares made a strong performance, as the euro weakened vs. the dollar. Mobile-phone maker Nokia rose 2.2% and chip maker Infineon Technologies gained 2.2%. The retailer sector also helped boost European indexes. German retailer Metro Group rose 1.6% after it said 2006 sales rose 7.5% to around 60 billion euros, while home-improvement retailer Praktiker rose 2.6% after it said sales rose 4.2% to 3.16 billion euros in 2006.

Crude oil prices traded below $54 a barrel in a volatile session. Warm weather forecasts sent crude oil February contract down 27 cents to $53.75 a barrel. Heating oil slipped to $1.5238 a gallon, while gasoline lost nearly a cent to $1.4325. Natural gas slipped 10 cents to $6.652 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent slipped 24 cents to $53.45. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.2887, down from $1.2935. The dollar bought 120.62 yen, up from 119.56. The British pound was quoted at $1.9398, up from $1.9324. European gold prices advance. In London, gold traded at $614.60 per troy ounce, up from $609.95. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $611.70 per ounce, up from $606.40. Silver closed at $12.48, up from $12.30.


[R]11:30AM Market sharply advanced, boosted by tech and oil stocks.[/R]
U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, helped by tech shares which boosted the Nasdaq 1% and oil company shares that rebounded after investors turned to bargain hunting. A bigger-than-expected drop in jobless claims indicated that the economy wasn''t slowing pace too quickly. Crude oil prices dropped as low as $52.94 a barrel after Russia resumed pumping crude through a pipeline to Europe and U.S. Shares of oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart) and Chevron (CVX: chart) gained more than 2% each. Genentech (DNA: chart) lifted optimism about corporate profits after reporting 75% earnings increase in Q4. Company’s stock rose 3.7%.

In other corporate news, Amdocs Ltd. (DOX: chart), a maker of customer-service software, slipped 10.8% after cutting its revenue forecast for 2007. Quest Software (QSFT: chart), application and database-management software maker, rose 3.8% after a positive analyst comment. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 90.60, or 0.73%, to 12,532.76. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 11.69, or 0.83%, at 1,426.54, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 29.55, or 1.20%, to 2,488.88. Bonds fell as the drop in jobless claims pointed to a healthy economy. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.71% from 4.69% late Wednesday.


[R]10:30AM NY 9:30 PM Mumbai Indian benchmark surges on Infosys Q3 earnings.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished with a gain of 268.55 points, or 2.01% at 13,630.71. The market-breadth was very strong as there were almost two advancers for every decliner. As 1,759 stocks advanced, 886 declined and 57 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, only two declined, while the rest advanced. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,414 crore, as compared to Rs 4,131 crore on Wednesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 9,854.7 crore, higher than Rs 8,572.23 crore on Wednesday.

Trading highlights

Infosys was in the limelight today, as it reported record profit in Q3 after banks and insurers increased orders. Net income rose 52% to 9.83 billion rupees ($221 million), or 17.24 rupees a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, matching the forecasts. Still, the company said that the rate, at which workers quit, increased to 13.5% from 10.8% a year earlier. The appreciation of the rupee reduced operating margin by 200 basis points. Growth in Europe, growth in package implementation, growth in product revenue and growth in the clients contributed to the strong results. Infosys, which had slipped to a low of Rs 2,100 in early trade rebounded after posting Q3 results, and ended 0.30% higher at Rs 2,175 on trading of 10.47 lakh shares.

Economic news

Goldman Sachs, financial services company, announced that it will start its brokerage operations in India this year. Standard and Poor''''s stated that it may downgrade British telecom company Vodafone if its proposed bid for Hutchison Essar Ltd goes beyond $19 billion.

Most-active stocks

Tech Mahindra topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 260.80 crore followed by IFCI and Infosys.

Advancers

Reliance Communications led the advancers, up 5.91% to Rs 431.30 on 33.99 lakh shares. The company has also restated its interest to buy Hutch Essar.

Infosys strong performance buoyed other large-cap IT stocks. Wipro jumped 5.32% to Rs 622, recovering from a low of Rs 580. Satyam Computers advanced 3.17% to Rs 479.05 and TCS rallied 3.40% to Rs 1,276 after plunging to a low of Rs 1,205. It advanced to a high of Rs 1,297.90.

HDFC Bank rebounded after it fell following the announcement of its Q3 results, with the private sector banking posting 31.7% growth in net profit for Q3 December 2006 that was in line with market expectations. HDFC Bank Ltd ended 0.8% higher at Rs 1,007.

Hindustan Lever was up 4.60% to Rs 218.15 and ITC gained 3.31% to Rs 168.70. Other foreign capital goods also surged with Proctor & Gamble, up 3.27% to Rs 900, Dabur India rising 1.94% to Rs 152.40, Marico advancing 2.43% to Rs 544.85, and Glaxo Smithkline Consumer adding 3.65% to Rs 590.

State-run oil companies advanced after crude oil futures dropped below $53 in international markets on Thursday. Indian Oil Corporation gained 2.42% to Rs 457.35, HPCL was up 2.45% to Rs 291, and BPCL rose 2.55% to Rs 354.