7:30AM NY – 6:30 PM Mumbai Sensex finishes 11 points higher in volatile trading, Hindalco zooms

The Sensex on BSE ended Wednesday 11.35 points higher, or 0.07%, at 15,301.17.

The benchmark index opened almost flat, up only six points and plunged right from the start on profit-taking. Volatility increased in the final hour of trading when both intra-day high of 15,325.78 and intra-day low of 15,160.27 were struck.

The market-breadth was negative as out of 2,706 stocks traded on the market, 1,141 advanced, 1,490 declined and 75 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 15 advanced, while all the rest declined.

The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,720 crore, lower than Rs 6,100 crore on Tuesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 11,318 crore, also lower than Rs 12,729 crore on Tuesday.

Economic and financial news

Ramesh Chandra, Chairman of Unitech Ltd., announced that the real-estate company intends to invest $720 million in four years building 28 hotels together with Marriott International Inc., the biggest hotelier in the world. Four hotels are being built and another 10 will be under construction by the end of the year, Ramesh Chandra told reporters today in an interview Bethesda and Marriott will be in charge of four of these hotels, he added.

Ericsson, the largest maker of wireless networks in the world, secured a $2 billion order from Bharti Airtel Ltd. Ericsson announced in a statement that the contract will run for two years.. Ericsson, manages Bharti''s networks in 15 of the 23 zones that make up India''s telecommunications market.

Trading highlights

DLF was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 370 crore followed by Indiabulls Real Estate and GMR Infra.

Advancers of the Day

Hindalco led the gainers, soaring 4.5% to Rs 187. The company was under intense volatility, swinging in the range of Rs 173 – Rs 187. Bharti Airtel surged 3.5% to Rs 893, boosted by its deal with Ericsson. Another telecom large-cap, Reliance Communications was also up 1.1% to Rs 567.

Bajaj Auto surged 2.9% to Rs 2,282. Reportedly the company is searching for a big acquisition in the European motorcycle market with bike companies Ducati Motor Holding of Italy and Triumph Motorcycles of the UK the most possible targets.

Cement stocks advanced in the last one hour of trade. ACC shot up 2.% to Rs 1,133, Grasim gained 2.1% to Rs 2,915, and Birla Corporation soared 3.1% to Rs 303.

TCS advanced 1.3% to Rs 1,170 and ICICI Bank was up over 1% to Rs 985.

Decliners of the Day

Larsen & Toubro led the decliners, shedding 2.6% to Rs 2,330. ONGC plunged 1.8% to Rs 892 on profit-taking. Reliance Energy lost 1.4% to Rs 689. The company reported a net-profit increase of 25.45% to Rs 221.56 crore in the first-quarter of June 2007 compared to Rs 176.61 crore in the comparable period a year earlier.

Satyam dropped 1.4% to Rs 482 and ITC was down 1% to Rs 154. Dr.Reddy''s also dipped over 1% to Rs 666. Index heavy, Reliance Industries declined 0.4% to Rs 1,820 on 6.89 lakh shares on profit taking after striking a record high of Rs 1,849 earlier during the day.

6:30AM European markets decline on concern over subprime mortgages, weak oil and tech sectors.

European markets were lower on Wednesday. All western markets were lower by mid-day. The U.K. FTSE 100 index slid 0.7% at 6,614.10, the German DAX index declined 1.4% at 7,925.48 as it struggled to hold the 8,000 level, and the French CAC-40 index shed 0.8% at 6,046.51. The German market led the decliners in the region.