The US Stocks End Lower After Greenspan Remarks Spur Investors to Cash in Gains:The Sensex was going great guns in the past five trading session yesterday took a breather, as bulls started liquidating positions in last hour of trade, on the Sensex's inability to hit new all-time high. Prior to yesterday's session, the benchmark index rallied sharp 525 points or 3.75% from 13,929.33 on 15 May to 14,453.72 on 22 May 2007. The all-time high level for the benchmark Sensex was 14,723.88, hit on 9 February 2007. Marketmen expect the Sensex to consolidate before making any big upmove. Except for selective buying interest seen in metal and capital good sector, shares from auto, FMCG, oil & gas and banking space declined on profit taking. The BSE 30-share Sensex declined 90.46 points or 0.63% at 143,63.26. It opened higher at 14,490.03, tracking flat global markets, and advanced to an intra-day high of 14,500.64. It slipped to a fresh intra-day low at 14,325.89, in late afternoon session of trade, as selling intensified. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 31.90 points or 0.75% at 4,246.2. Robust set of FIIs and mutual fund inflows have been driving the markets higher in the past few sessions. FIIs have been on a buying spree as they purchased $747 million in equities in the last four sessions from 17 May to 22 May 2007. They bought shares worth a net $113.3 million on 21 May 2007. Domestic institutions also provided support to the markets as they pumped Rs 1,145 crore in the Indian equity market in the last four sessions from 17 May to 22 May 2007. They bought shares worth Rs 314.4 crore on 21 May 2007.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, weakened further after staying in positive in the opening session. On BSE, 1,640 shares declined as compared to 950 that advanced. 83 scrips remained unchanged. This was in sharp contrast to the strong market breadth on BSE at 10:30 IST, when 1,001 shares advanced as compared to 678 that declined. The BSE Small-Cap index settled 49.22 points or 0.68% lower at 7,237.55, while the BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 36 points or 0.59% to 6,108.84: The markets are expected to be bouyant in the month of June, as lot of corporates fearing a repeat of May-fiasco, thought of declaring,results in June:The Indian markets are doing extremely well even after it received battering from Finance Minsitry and the RBI:

Meanwhile, the US Stocks wilted Wednesday as comments from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and worries about upcoming economic data deflated a rally fed by takeover activity. Stocks initially rose, lifting the Dow Jones industrials briefly above 13,600 for the first time, after the market got a fresh load of deal-related news that included a possible bidding battle over aluminum producer Alcan Inc. But the excitement waned after a media report that Greenspan expressed concern that China's stock market -- which has recently been hitting record highs -- could eventually see a sharp decline. Wall Street's mood also dampened when energy prices failed to ease despite a rebound in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories last week. And with key reports on durable goods and new home sales due for release Thursday and the long Memorial Day weekend looming, investors adopted a defensive stance. Strong merger and acquisition activity has for weeks been the primary force lifting the Dow, which crossed over the 13,000 milestone less than a month ago. So after some cautionary comments from Greenspan, analysts were not surprised to see investors take a breather. "He still carries a lot of clout," said Steven DeSanctis, small cap strategist with Prudential Equity Group, noting that U.S. investors are also very focused on the Chinese economy. "You get a data point like that and people start to take profits, get a little nervous." The Dow fell 14.30, or 0.11 percent, to 13,525.65, after climbing to an intraday trading record of 13,609.76. Broader stock indicators also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.84, or 0.12 percent, to 1,522.28, still unable to finish above its record close of 1,527.46 set in March 2000. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 10.97, or 0.42 percent, to 2,577.05, after briefly trading above the 2,600 mark for the first time in more than six years. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.85 percent from 4.83 percent late Tuesday. Giving stocks an early lift was news that Alcoa Inc.'s $27.6 billion hostile bid for rival Alcan was rebuffed, and a Canadian media report that Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. might make its own offer. Alcoa rose $1.42, or 3.7 percent, to $40.37; Alcan rose $4.86, or 6 percent, to $85.89; and BHP Billiton rose $1.01, or 2 percent, to $51.76. The report followed announcements late Tuesday that Morgan Stanley Real Estate will acquire real estate investment trust Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. for $2.34 billion, and that Payless ShoeSource Inc. will buy competing shoe store chain Stride Rite for about $800 million. Stride Rite soared $4.76, or 31 percent, to $20.21. Payless rose $3.24, or 10.2 percent, to $35.14. Adding to the takeover flurry, the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones & Co., planned to meet privately to discuss a $5 billion bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., according to The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Dow Jones. Dow Jones rose $1.28, or 2.5 percent, to $52.74. The stock market has been surging on recent deals, as they signal there is ample cash in the marketplace and that corporate executive are confident about the economy. About $2.3 trillion worth of deals have been announced so far this year, according to financial data provider Dealogic, and the tally is on track to beat last year's record $4 trillion. Though most market participants are optimistic about the stock market in the long-term, many are bracing for a short-term dip once the takeover euphoria wears off. "The market's been held up by all of this M&A activity, not by fundamentals," said Ed Peters, chief investment officer at PanAgora Asset Management Inc. Corporate profits have been slowing, but remain fairly strong. A new batch of strong earnings Wednesday, particularly from retailers, reassured investors. Target, the second-largest U.S. discount chain, rose 56 cents to $58.60 after reporting its first-quarter profit beat estimates due to strong sales of spring merchandise. But many investors worry that high energy prices could eat into discretionary spending. Crude futures rose 26 cents to $65.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after a 1.5 million barrel gain in gasoline stockpiles last week did not convince traders that supplies will be sufficient ahead of the summer driving season. The dollar declined, and gold rose. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.38, or 0.40 percent, to 836.54. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 10 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.02 billion shares, up from 2.82 billion Tuesday. Chinese stocks swelled to a record for the third straight session Wednesday on optimism over reports the government may triple quotas for foreign investment in local bourses. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.5 percent to 4,173.71. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.1 percent to 1,223.98, also a record close. Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.14 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.15 percent, Germany's DAX index added 1.00 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 0.50 percent