Satyam saga shows holes in India corporate governance

Just three months ago, India's fourth-largest software services exporter, Satyam Computer Services received a Golden Peacock award from a group of Indian directors for excellence in corporate governance.

Now its board is in turmoil and its shares have plunged after a botched attempt to buy two infrastructure firms in which management held stakes, sparking concerns about conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency.

Analysts say the saga exposes serious shortfalls in corporate India that must be addressed to ensure its credibility in an increasingly globalised and competitive world.

Four independent directors have resigned from the board of Satyam since the scandal erupted. But that does not fix the problem, said Premchand Palety, director of the Centre for Forecasting and Research in Delhi.

"Independent directors are supposed to be the watchdogs, the ones responsible for safeguarding the interests of minority shareholders. They clearly failed in their duty," he said.

Satyam says it adhered to corporate governance rules, appointing the requisite number of independent directors with excellent credentials, including the dean of a top business school in its hometown of Hyderabad and a professor at Harvard business school.

But there are concerns that some directors may be too close to Satyam's chairman to be considered truly independent, and all of them failed to ask tough questions about the now controversial infrastructure deals, Palety said.

"If Satyam's board was convinced about the merits of acquiring (the two firms), then good corporate governance demanded that it should have taken into confidence at least the major institutional shareholders," he said.

Even though the company aborted the plan, the damage was done: New York-listed Satyam's shares have plunged by a third since it first announced plans to acquire two sister firms for $1.6 billion and then abandoned the deal two weeks ago.

Satyam's board will meet on Jan 10 to consider more options to improve shareholder value and corporate governance.

DEEP INTROSPECTION

Change has come slowly for Indian family-owned businesses that have long battled issues such as nepotism, mismanagement, weak boards and a lack of transparency and professionalism.

About half the companies in the benchmark 30-share index are family-controlled.

With the opening of the economy in the early 1990s, bringing with it tighter regulations and greater foreign investor interest, Indian businesses have been forced to clean up their act.

But problems remain, with long-drawn out leadership succession battles such as the months-long standoff between the wealthy Ambani brotherrs highlighting the stranglehold by founders as well as the failure of regulatory authorities.

Not all matters of corporate governance are big.

"In some cases, it could be as small a matter as keeping minutes of meetings, or spending too much time on routine matters," said Raman Uberoi, a senior director at ratings agency CRISIL, which also has a corporate governance ratings service.

Some analysts say the market watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, lacks the teeth for ensuring compliance on governance, while others say the rules don't go far enough.

In the case of independent directors, for example, the SEBI mandates they must make up one-third of a board where the chairman is a non-executive director, and half the board where the chairman is an executive director.

With a limited pool of qualified and experienced managers from which to pick independent directors, company founders typically tap a network of associates, and it is not unusual to see the same familiar names on several boards.

And even independent directors may be hamstrung by a cultural distaste for dissent, said Anjali Bansal, director of consultancy Spencer Stuart in India.

"The vast majority of independent directors are intimidated or unsure of how their criticism will be taken," Bansal said.

It also boils down to the ethics of the top management and deep-rooted issues of education and corporate government awareness, Palety said.

"If the basic culture is not ethical, then what good will rules do? It is time for deep introspection at our companies, at our business schools, and at our financial media," he said.

The economic slowdown may be a trigger for better governance.

When funding is tight, better corporate governance makes companies more attractive in the eyes of investors, Bansal said.

"Also, with the bull run, companies were getting good valuations anyway. Now, perhaps they will pay closer attention to corporate governance for better valuations," said Uberoi.

News

- Sensex ends down 82pts at 9,634

- TCS completes acquisition of Citigroup Global Services

- S&P downgrades RIL, IOC credit outlook

- LIC hikes stake in Allahabad Bank

- Rahul Bajaj buys 29% in Bajaj Hindusthan for Rs 266 cr

- Crisil assigns AA rating to Andhra Bank bonds

- ONGC buys Imperial Energy for $1.9 bn

- Aurobindo Pharma receives approval for HIV drug from US FDA

US Recession, Tight Credit Compound US Housing Woes

The US housing sector has been hit hard throughout the year by an oversupply of homes that gradually forced high prices to fall. Tumbling prices, in turn, hurt the overall economy by battering financial institutions, reducing the wealth of homeowners and prompting job cuts in the housing sector.

Now, the worsening recession in the US is further damaging the housing market. Consumers who lose their jobs are adding to homeowner defaults, pushing forecasts for when the sector will hit bottom into the second half of 2009 or later. Until the housing market turns around, the overall economy is unlikely to grow much. Economists call this cycle an adverse feedback loop.

Sales of existing homes tumbled 8.6% in November from the prior month to an annual pace of 4.49 million units, the National Association of Realtors said. The figure reflects contract closings, which lag behind sales activity, and as a result capture the credit-market turmoil that hit the economy starting in mid-September.

New-home sales declined 2.9% to an annual rate of 407,000 units, the Commerce Department said, continuing a nearly three-year decline.

Infosys, ICICI Bank pull down Sensex

The Sensex opened 70 points higher at 9,639. Fresh buying in early trades helped the index move up to a high of 9,706. The index, however, could not hold gains and slipped into red.

The selling intensified in late noon deals amid talks of a possibility of war with Pakistan. The index tumbled to a low of 9,295 - down 411 points from the day's high.

The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 240 points at 9,329.

The BSE IT and Realty indices dropped nearly 4% each to 2,149 and 2,201, respectively. The Bankex shed 3% at 5,211.

The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,532 stocks traded so far, 1,598 declined, 865 advanced and 69 were unchanged today.

INDEX SHAKERS...

Reliance Infrastructure and DLF slumped 6% each to Rs 542 and Rs 276, respectively.

Infosys and ICICI Bank plunged over 5% each to Rs 1,110 and Rs 418, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra tumbled 4.7% to Rs 266. Hindalco, Jaiprakash Associates, ONGC and BHEL dropped around 4% each to Rs 49, Rs 74, Rs 644 and Rs 1,300, respectively.

SBI and Sterlite shed around 3% each to Rs 1,244 and Rs 249, respectively.

Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro declined 2.7% each to Rs 212 and Rs 744, respectively.

Tata Motors, Reliance and Wipro slipped around 2.5% each to Rs 156, Rs 1,212 and Rs 227, respectively.

Hindustan Unilever and ACC were down around 2% each at Rs 252 and Rs 457, respectively.

...AND THE MOVERS

Grasim and Maruti moved up 1.7% each to Rs 1,205 and Rs 511, respectively.

Ranbaxy advanced over 1% to Rs 219.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Bharti Airtel topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 194 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 187.25 crore), DLF (Rs 177.60 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 177 crore) and Satyam (Rs 163.20 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around two crore shares followed by Reliance Petroleum (1.73 crore), Unitech (1.54 crore), Suzlon (1.40 crore) and Satyam (1.17 crore).

News...

- Sensex ends marginally up (at 10099.91, i.e. +23.48 or +0.23%; DLF zooms 11%

- Parsvnath puts on hold 12 SEZ projects

- Bank of Japan cuts interest rates to near zero

- Chanda Kochhar to head ICICI Bank

- Fiscal package will be required in FY10 too: Montek

India shares turn down; angry investors dump Satyam

Indian shares fell more than 1 percent on today morning, surrendering a stronger opening, with shares in outsourcing firm Satyam plunging more than 30 percent as investors vented anger over a now-abandoned deal.

Satyam tumbled as much as 30.75 percent to 156.85 rupees, its lowest in more than 4 years, as it was dumped by investors furious at a plan to pay $1.6 billion for control of a construction and a real estate firm that management held stakes in.

Satyam abandoned the deal after its shares fell 55 percent in New York.

"It's an overall hit for market sentiment. It reflects poorly on corporate governance in Indian companies, and it's an issue that investors are now faced with," said Nikunj Doshi, investment manager at Envision Capital.

Largest-listed firm Reliance Industries, a favourite with foreign investors, was down 3 percent at 1,344.90 rupees, adding to the losses.

At 10:43 a.m., the 30-share main stock index was down 0.98 percent at 9,879.29 points, with 21 components losing ground. After opening up 0.96 percent, the market fell as much as 1.48 percent in morning trade.

Key losers included shares with high foreign institutional investor (FII) shareholding. Traders said there had been some selling from foreign investors worried over governance issues, but expected it to be temporary.

Reliance Infrastructure was down 6.8 percent at 593.45 rupees, Reliance Communications was down 4.1 percent at 224.25, and Bharti Airtel fell 0.9 percent to 738.05 rupees.

Foreign institutional investors have been net buyers of about $440 million worth of Indian shares so far in December, but have dumped a net $13.2 billion in 2008. They were net buyers of $17.4 billion last year.

As Satyam plunged, shares of other software exporters rose, which traders attributed to portfolio reallocation.

Tata Consultancy Services rose 0.9 percent to 485 rupees, Infosys Technologies rose 2.8 percent to 1,154.70 rupees, and Wipro rose 0.8 percent to 241 rupees.

In the broader market 1,122 gainers led 811 losers on volume of 129.5 million shares.

The 50-share NSE index was down 0.77 percent at 3,018.20 points.


STOCKS ON THE MOVE

* Construction firm Maytas Infra fell 14.9 percent to 413 rupees after Satyam Computer called off its plan to acquire 51 percent in the company at 475 rupees a share.

* Auto ancillary stocks rose on expectation that a bailout package for U.S. auto majors will be announced later on Wednesday. Bharat Forge rose 11 percent, Amtek Auto rose 5 percent, while Amara Raja rose 8 percent.

* Moser Baer India rose 3.1 percent after the company acquired exclusive home video licence for UTV Motion Pictures' 25 films for the next five years in a deal worth 250 million rupees.


MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME

* Satyam Computer Services on 16.7 million shares

* Reliance Natural Resources on 6.1 million shares

* Suzlon Energy on 5.9 million shares

Sensex ends up 142pts; Grasim zooms 9%

Mirroring the positive trend in the global markets, the Sensex opened 132 points higher at 9,822, and touched a high of 9,948 in the morning trades. Some profit-taking at higher levels saw the index pare gains and slip to a low of 9,749.

The index, thereafter, exhibited range-bound movement and finally settled with a gain of 142 points at 9,832.

Out of 2,572 stocks traded today - 1,935 advanced, 556 declined and the rest were unchanged.

The NSE Nifty closed 60 points higher at 2,981.

INDEX MOVERS...

Grasim zoomed over 9% at Rs 1,174, and Hindalco soared nearly 6% to Rs 56.

Sterlite surged over 5% to Rs 308. Larsen & Toubro and Tata Steel rallied over 4.2% each to Rs 820 and Rs 227, respectively.

ONGC gained over 4.1% at Rs 673 while ACC was up 3.9% to Rs 513.

Mahindra and Mahindra advanced 3.5% to Rs 303. HDFC Bank and Jaiprakash Associates were up 2.7% each to Rs 945 and Rs 86, respectively.

Tata Motors moved up 2.6% at Rs 158. Reliance gained 2.4% to Rs 1,338.

...AND SHAKERS

Reliance Communications slumped 4.1% to Rs 239, and TCS plunged 2.6% to Rs 470.

Tata Power tumbled 2.5% to Rs 732. Wipro declined 1.6% to Rs 235 and HDFC shed 1.4% at Rs 1,612.

State Bank of India was down 0.8% at Rs 1,204.

MOST ACTIVE COUNTERS

Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 505.79 crore followed by State Bank of India (Rs 234.15 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 206.80 crore), DLF (Rs 193 crore) and Reliance Capital (Rs 145.51 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 3.51 crore shares followed by Unitech (2.29 crore), IFCI (2.24 crore), Reliance Petroleum (1.50 crore) and GVK Power (1.46 crore).

News...

# Sensex, Nifty up in noon trading

# Playboy lays off 14% staff

# Electrolux cuts 3,000 jobs worldwide

# Asia mkts up on fresh US auto plan

SBI says economy likely to need more help

State Bank of India, India's biggest bank, said today there was some concern the economy would require further stimulus beyond large interest rate cuts and extra government spending announced last weekend.

Chairman O.P. Bhatt's comments followed remarks from the central bank (RBI) governor on yesterday that India's growth projections for the current financial year ending in March 2009 may be cut and 2009/10 may be a "more difficult year".

"There are still concerns the economy may require more," SBI Chairman O.P. Bhatt told reporters at a banking conference in New Delhi, although he did not elaborate on what measures were needed to counter the deepest global financial crisis in 80 years.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashed its key short-term rate by 100 basis points and the central government announcing $4 billion in extra funding at the weekend.

The head of a banking sector body said banks would consider interest rate cuts for housing and small and medium-sized firms that have been hit by the credit crisis.

"We will see what relief can be given. It can entail interest rates also," said T.S. Narayanasami, head of the Indian Banking Association and chairman of state-run Bank of India.

Analysts from firms such as JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup have said while the fiscal package and rate cuts were welcome, they were unlikely to reverse a slowdown.

Morgan Stanley yesterday cut its forecast for India's economic growth in 2009/10 to 5.3 percent from 5.7 percent, saying higher cost of capital could crimp domestic demand.

US House passes auto bailout, Senate prospects uncertain

The House of Representatives approved bailout legislation on Wednesday that would force U.S. automakers to restructure or fail, sending the measure to the Senate where prospects for passage are uncertain.

Democrats sought to reclaim momentum in the $14 billion bailout effort, with the bill they negotiated with the Bush administration clearing the chamber by 237-170.

"This legislation is about offering Detroit and America a chance to get back on track," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a floor speech before the vote. "It gets down to a question of tough love."

The White House weighed in just before the vote with a public endorsement aimed at Republicans skeptical of the rescue and demanding a tougher approach for helping General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co, and Chrysler LLC.

"We believe the legislation developed in recent days is an effective and responsible approach to deal with troubled automakers and ensure the necessary restructuring occurs," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.

Democrats advocated passage based on the belief that government inaction could lead to an industry collapse that would cost taxpayers far more than the loans intended to see them through March and help them restructure.

While the House stuck to its plan for quick action, uncertainty gripped the Senate where a razor-thin Democratic majority cannot ensure passage. Sixty votes are needed to clear procedural hurdles.

A vote could come as early as Thursday, but some Republicans have vowed to slow or even block the legislation.

U.S. Outperforms Overseas Markets

Though it is the worst year in decades for U.S. stocks, American investors would have been better off keeping their money at home rather than plowing it overseas.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 33% this year, even after gaining 9.7% for the just-ended week. But many benchmark indexes from Germany to China have fared worse. Germany's DAX index has slumped 42% in 2008, and China's Shanghai Composite is off 64%. For U.S. investors, a strengthening dollar has further magnified many overseas losses.

New Horror Serial On Television...

The man is depressed. The woman's face is ashen. An eerie calm prevails - the calm before the storm. Then a bell rings shrilly and the screen slowly turns blood red. Name of serial: "Markets Today". Channel: CNBC.

G-20 Summit Offers Mostly Promises

Global leaders showed a united front against the financial crisis, but offered mostly promises of future cooperation to nudge the world out of its economic funk.

Equities end red, BSE down 150 points...

Despite opening strong, Indian equities markets shed values once again today on weak global cues and the key BSE index finished with losses of more than 150 points.

Overnight US markets closed in the green but a key index of the New York Stock Exchange actually went even below October lows before bouncing back on short covering. Asian markets too were showing gains Friday morning when Indian markets opened.

"Markets opened strong as both US markets and Asian markets were in green but the buying mood is simply not there as it is very clear that even the Euro region is into a recession," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of the capital markets arm of India's fourth largest share brokerage firm, the SMC Group.

The 30-share benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) finished at 9,385.42, down 150.91 points or 1.58 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 9,536.33 points.

The Sensex opened strong at 9,799.25, up 262.92 points or 2.76 percent from its previous close Wednesday, hit a high of 9,836.11 but then began to slide to hit a low of 9,267.49 before inching up about 115 points to its closing value.

The broader-based 50 share S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also showed a similar trend and closed at 2810.35, down 38.1 points or 1.34 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 2848.45 points.

The BSE midcap index finished at 3,216.08, down 65.19 points or 1.99 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 3,281.27 points.

The BSE smallcap index closed at 3,765.05, down 48.33 points or 1.27 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 3,813.38 points.

Except for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) all the other 12 sectoral indices were in the red with capital goods, automobiles, metal and consumer durables showing the most losses.

Among the gainers Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer, up 2.99 percent followed by Tata Power, up 2.02 percent, Reliance Communications, up 1.88 percent and HDFC Bank, up 0.37 percent.

Among losers, ACC Ltd led with a loss of 8.95 percent, followed by Tata Motors, down 8.49 percent, Tata Steel, down 6.40 percent and Housing Development Finance Company, down 4.86 percent.

As many as 1,594 stocks or 61.50 percent declined, 924 stocks or 35.65 percent advanced and 74 or 2.85 percent remained unchanged.

"The US markets may have closed in the green but if a mature market shows 15 percent intra-day volatility then you know that the underlying sentiment is very weak and the bounce is only due to short covering," Thunuguntla said explaining why Indian markets opened strong but immediately went into a tailspin.

"Germany, Europe's largest economy, has just reported negative growth of 0.5 percent for the last quarter ending Sept and had reported negative growth of 0.4 percent in the previous quarter, so, going by the technical definition of a recession, they are into one," Thunuguntla said.

Similarly, France, Europe's second largest economy, has reported a growth of just 0.1 percent last quarter and had reported negative growth of 0.3 percent in the previous quarter, so they too are as good as in a recession, Thunuguntla said.

"The writing is on the wall for such iconic representatives of American capitalism as General Motors and Ford because even if there is government help forthcoming and there is also a stimulus package they may survive for a few more months but not beyond that," he said.

"Who will replace them is a trillion dollar question but the era of American capitalism as we know it is certainly coming to an end - old water is being washed away and new water will flow in," Thunuguntla said, adding: "Till that happens uncertainty will rule and sustained recovery is not possible."

President-elect Barack Obama, for example is talking about a $50 billion bail out package for the automobile industry, but GM's monthly cash burn is $11 billion so even if the entire amount goes to GM, it is just enough to sustain them for four and a half months, analysts said.

Actually only about 50-60 percent will go to GM and they now have $16.2 billion cash in hand so they can last only for about four months. After that GM will have to file for bankruptcy protection, they said.

Ford is facing a similar situation and that means the entire automobile industry is in danger of collapse.

"GM has already engaged members of Congress, and the current Administration, in seeking its only option for survival: An immediate capital infusion or loan," said a Deutsche Bank Securities research report.

The report said: "We believe that the US will be compelled to participate. Without government assistance, we believe that GM's collapse would be inevitable, and that it would precipitate systemic risk that would be difficult to overcome for automakers, suppliers, retailers, and sectors of the US economy."

"A recent study by the Center For Automotive research projected an immediate loss of over 2.5 million jobs, and a $125 billion decline in personal income from such a scenario," the report added.

Even if the US government intervenes in a bigger way as it cannot afford a systemic risk GM and Ford may be able to avoid bankruptcy but real recovery is a log way off, analysts said.

A stimulus package for the entire economy would also take a minimum of two or three years to work its way to higher demand for automobiles. So the outlook remains grim, they said.

US Stocks Rise As Tough Month Ends

US investors had such a frightful October that the arrival of Halloween is actually a relief. At least the whole ghoulish month is over.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has swung between gains and losses so far on Friday, trading 104 points higher in recent action, up 1.1%, at 9284.23 despite a round of weak economic data that reinforced many participants' perception that a persistent global slowdown is underway.

Sensex ends up 744pts; M&M zooms 23%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 317 points at 9,362, on the back of on-going pull-back in the market. Intra-day profit taking saw the index pare gains during the day, the Sensex however ended on a firm note at 9,788 - up 744 points

With today's gain, the main index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex, gained over 27% (2,091 points) from it's Monday low of 7,697. However, the index was down almost 24% (3,072 points) for the month, and down nearly 52% (10,499 points) so far this year.

The BSE Metal index surged over 10% to 5,368, and Oil & Gas index soared over 9% to 6,196.

The market breath was fairly positve - out of 2,575 stocks traded, 1,577 advanced, 915 declined and the rest were unchanged today.

MAJOR INDEX MOVERS...

Mahindra & Mahindra zoomed 23% to Rs 372.

HDFC soared 17.5% to Rs 1,765, and Jaiprakash Associates surged 16.5% to Rs 72.

ICICI Bank rallied 15.5% to Rs 399. Sterlite gained 14.5% at Rs 282.

Reliance and Reliance Communications moved up 13.8% each to Rs 1,371 and Rs 221, respectively.

Hindalco advanced over 13% to Rs 60. Tata Steel and Tata Power were up around 12% each at Rs 210 and Rs 690, respectively.

...OTHER INDEX MOVERS

Tata Motors surged over 9% to Rs 172. DLF and BHEL rallied 8.8% each to Rs 220 and Rs 1,282, respectively.

HDFC Bank gained over 8% at Rs 1,024. Satyam added 7.6% to Rs 305.

Hindustan Unilever advanced 6.6% to Rs 222. Reliance Infrastructure, Wipro and Infosys were up around 6% each to Rs 457, Rs 272 and Rs 1,382, respectively.

Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel gained 5.5% each at Rs 805 and Rs 649, respectively. NTPC was up nearly 5% at Rs 141.

...AND THE SHAKERS

Ranbaxy slipped 2% to Rs 169. TCS was down 1% at Rs 537.

MOST ACTIVE COUNTERS

Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 435.80 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 187 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 170.60 crore), SBI (Rs 148.40 crore and Reliance Communications (Rs 135.60 crore).

Suzlong led the volume chart with trades of around 1.69 crore shares followed by Hindalco (1.34 crore), Reliance Petroleum (1 crore), Unitech (85 lakh) and Core Projects (81.37 lakh).

Japan Stocks Rise; Nikkei Posts Biggest 3-Day Rally in 38 Years

Japan stocks soared today, sending the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to its sharpest three-day advance in at least 38 years, as a gain in commodity prices and a weaker yen boosted the profit prospects for resource companies and carmakers.

Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co., trading companies that get more than half their profit from commodities, soared more than 12 percent. Mazda Motor Corp., which exports 80 percent of its production, jumped 25 percent, the most in at least three decades, after the yen weakened to 99.12 against the dollar. Mobile carrier Softbank Corp. surged by its limit of 13 percent after saying it will generate positive cash flow from this year.

The Nikkei 225 climbed 817.86, or 10 percent, to close at 9,029.76 in Tokyo, the fourth-biggest gain in its 59-year history. The broader Topix index rose 69.05, or 8.3 percent, to 899.37. The Nikkei had fallen 41 percent in the past six months, steeper than the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's 33 percent slide and a 34 percent drop in Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.

``Japan's market will likely rebound faster as it has slumped more than other major markets'' said Masaru Hamasaki, senior strategist at Toyota Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, which manages about $15 billion. If the yen stays at about 100 versus the dollar, ``it'll lead to a decline in material costs in a few months' time, benefiting manufacturers.''

The Nikkei 225 posted a three-day gain of 26 percent, the steepest since Nikkei Inc. took over the benchmark from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in July 1970. Even so, the measure is on track to record its worst month in that history, losing 19 percent. Six of the 10 biggest moves in the gauge in that period occurred this month, including a record 14 percent jump on Oct. 14.

World market rise...

European stocks rose early today amid signs central banks around the globe will act further to prop up market confidence and lower borrowing costs for both consumers and businesses.

Shortly after the start of trading, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index was 0.9% higher at 215.59. In terms of national markets, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index gained 0.45% to 4261.59, France's CAC-40 Index advanced 1.1% to 3439.80 and Germany's DAX Index rose 1.8% to 4896.74.

Asia closed with gains across the board. Asian investors cheered global efforts to deal with the credit crisis and slowing world economy, sending markets up sharply today in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul.

Dow Jones falls despite Fed rate cut

The US stock markets ended mixed on Wednesday after posting huge gains on Tuesday. The Fed's interest rate cut didn't help the Dow Jones, which declined 0.8% to 8991 points. Most of these losses, over 300 points, came in the last few minutes of trading.

The Nasdaq gained half a per cent to 1,651 points.

Indian ADRs were also mixed. Tata Communications gained 8.4% and Tata Motors was up 4.25%. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank declined 4.2% and 4% respectively. Dr Reddy's also lost 3.7%, while Infosys was down 0.9%.

News...

- Dow Jones falls despite Fed rate cut
- Inflation at 10.68%
- US Fed Reserve cuts 50 basis pts to 1%
- Chinese company to set up power production facility in India
- SBI to expand network in UP
- Champagne Indage Q2 net P up 9%t at Rs 5 crore
- FM reviews global fin crisis with key heads, experts
- No fuel price cut for now: Oil Ministry
- M&M consolidated Q2 net down 5%
- Indian oil firms to get oil bonds worth Rs 65,942 cr
- Telenor buys 61% stake in Unitech Wireless for Rs 6,120 cr
- US Fed eyes new rate cut to ease credit crisis

Sensex on roller-coster ride, settles 191 pts down

Weighed under selling pressure from funds, Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today went on a roller-coster ride yet again, falling over 1,000 points to breach the crucial 8,000 level in intra-day trading, but later recovered some losses on renewed buying. In a choppy trade, the 30-share index, which had lost over 1,000 points during the mid-session on major sell-off by funds, attracted some buying at the existing lower levels only to regain 812.17-point losses and closed at 8,509.56 level, 191.51 points down from the last week's close.

It touched the day's low of 7,697.39, a level last seen on October 2005. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped below 2,300 points before ending at 2524.20, still showing a loss of 59.50 points.

Marketmen said emergence of buying by domestic financial institutions and covering up of short positions by speculators at prevailing lower levels helped Sensex recover part of the lost ground. They said a steep fall in equities drove down the rupee against the dollar and gold also fell sharply, thus leaving no other option for investors but to return to the bourses.

A remarkable recovery was seen in the realty sector, which had suffered heavy losses during the day. The realty index bounced back to close higher by 74.01 points at 1,817.28 as stocks of Unitech, Indiabulls Realestate, Omax and Akruti City closed with handsome gains.

Fresh Tumult as Signs of Recession Go Global

There are no safe havens from the forces battering the global economy any longer.

In rich countries and poor countries alike, markets are plunging, companies are scrambling for credit and cutting their growth plans and consumers are keeping cash in their pockets. The U.S. and some governments in Europe and Asia are spending heavily to bring a halt to the problems in markets and Main Streets globally, but the attempts have not halted the damage.

Stock declines started in Asia and quickly spread as markets opened for trading around the world.

Fears of a prolonged recession pushed shares down across the world on Friday. The slide started in Asia, where the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average fell 9.6% to a five-year low of 7649.08, and markets in Hong Kong, Mumbai and Seoul registered similar declines. Europe followed next, where the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 4.7% to 198.80, dropping below 200 for the first time since mid 2003. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 312 points, or 3.6%, to finish at 8378.95, a 5 1/2-year low.

Disappointing economic statistics released Friday fed the sense of malaise. In Europe, a closely-watched survey of economic activity, the Markit Purchasing Managers' Index, fell to its lowest level in a decade in October. In the U.S., sales of previously occupied homes rose 1.4% from a year earlier in September, as bargain hunters started nibbling. But that news was eclipsed by the fact that there's still a huge glut of homes and credit remains tight. In Asia, currencies sank across the continent, deepening fears that companies would have a tougher time paying off debt that is in dollars and euros.

One big exception was Japan, where the yen jumped to a 13-year high, and was at 94.6 yen to the dollar late Friday in New York. But the gain stoked fear that the Japanese export machine will sputter further because its exports will be more expensive when measured in dollars.

Japan's deepening pessimism came just a few weeks after big firms started uncharacteristically bold overseas acquisitions. Last month, Nomura Holdings Inc. snapped up parts of bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in Asia and Europe. Nomura's ebullient chief executive Kenichi Watanabe said in an interview he was looking at other possible acquisitions. But even though the strong yen makes overseas assets cheaper, there is a chance that Japanese companies may hunker down, removing another potential rescue force for ailing companies elsewhere.

While markets have been tumbling for some time, Friday seemed to be a day when many people around the world became convinced the economy is in for a long recession. That sense was exacerbated by poor earnings results and news of deep layoffs. Central banks in Europe and the U.S. are hinting broadly at further interest-rate cuts, while government officials in the U.S., Europe and Asia also are plotting further action. But that wasn't enough to calm fears around the globe.

Wkly Review: Sensex at 3-yr low, sheds 13%

The stock markets almost hit their bottom, falling to nearly three-year low at the weekend as the recession worries continued to haunt investors across the world even as the salvage operation undertaken by various governments fell short of expectations

In the week to October 25, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share bellwether Sensex plunged by 1,274 points or 12.8 per cent to settle the week at 8,701, the level not seen since November 23, 2005, when it had closed at 8,638.

The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also tumbled by 490 points or 16 per cent to end the week at 2,584 from its last close.

The market saw a free fall as its global counterparts slipped on daily basis even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the present global financial markets crisis seems to be spreading across markets, institutions and countries, a day before announcing its mid-term review of monetary policy.

Contrary to expectations of further monetary measures, the apex bank kept all the key rates unchanged while lowering its growth projections to 7.5-8.0 per cent for this fiscal.

After infusing Rs one lakh crore in the banking system through a sharp 2.5 per cent CRR cut on October 11, the RBI slashed the short-term repo rate at which banks borrow from it to eight per cent on October 20.

The market regulator Sebi too took steps in the interest of capital market during the week. Sebi warned foreign funds against overseas lending and borrowing of Indian securities after the data showed that FIIs had lent equities worth Rs 348 crore to overseas entities for the purpose of short selling.

The central bank also eased norms on overseas borrowing for Indian companies to boost inflows and help corporates raise funds for projects.

Analysts said the market situation seems grim with all the global markets under pressure due to an imminent economic recession and spreading financial markets crisis beyond the banking sector.

British Chancellor Alistair Darling said that UK was nearing recession after official data revealed a 0.5 per cent decline in GDP for the July-September quarter. The data comes after IMF suggested that US economy would be in recession between second half of 2008 and first half of 2009.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 312 points or 3.6 per cent on Friday.

On the BSE, there was a single gainer in the Sensex pack with half of them showing one of the biggest losses at the weekend. The BSE Realty stocks were the worst hit during the week. As a result, the BSE Realty Index crumbled by 781.62 points or 31 per cent.

The Metal Index tumbled by 1,407.83 points or 24.27 per cent, the BSE Oil&Gas by 1,327.92 points or 20.5 per cent and the BSE Auto Index by 6618.64 points or 20 per cent.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index slumped by 721.90 points or 14 per cent to end the week at 4,458.94 from its last weekend's close.

On the NSE, the S&P CNX Defty nosedived by 388.10 points or 17.82 per cent to close the week at 1,790.35 from its last close of 2,178.45 and the CNX Nifty Junior also dipped to settle the week at 4,104.45, a net fall of 566.00 points or 12.12 per cent from its previous weekend's close.

News

- Sensex at 3-yr low, sheds 13% this week
- NASA may set up R&D centre in Pune
- Grasim cuts VSF production by 30%
- Gold bounces back by Rs 500 per ten grams
- Jet Airways net loss rises to Rs 384.5 cr
- Sun Pharma net up 135% at Rs 513 cr
- US govt to buy stake in insurance companies
- Corporation Bank Q2 net up 19% at Rs 192 cr
- Arvind net down 84% at Rs 2 cr
- Era Infra bags Rs 199 cr order from BHEL
- Union Bank of India net up 31% at Rs 361 cr
- India not in recessionary mode: Subbarao (RBI Governor)

Shares hit new low for 2008...

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) fell to its lowest since June 2006 on Thursday as a global rout of equities raised worries of further foreign investor selling, before some bargain hunting helped the market regain some composure.

Leading private sector firm the Reliance Industries, which reports quarterly results after market hours, was down 3.9 percent at 1,264.70, having earlier fallen as much as 6.4 percent to its lowest since Dec. 2006.

The company is forecast to report a modest 2.2 percent rise in net profit on slimmer refining margins.

Asian stocks dropped to a four-year low for a second day today, with exporters especially hard hit, on growing fears that a severe global downturn would depress corporate earnings further.

Analysts said that they were expecting that the Indian stock would fall at the open as Japan's Nikkei stock index plunged to a new five-and-half year low amid fears of recession.

"Today's meltdown , we can see, again due to very weak global cues, it seems that the problem is too serious, whatever the governments are taking measures are not sufficient because they are not reflecting on the market," said Siddhart Kunawala, a stock analyst.

The 30-share BSE index opened down 4.8 percent and fell as far as 9,682.40, but by 10:59 a.m. had pared its losses to be down 2.07 percent 9,959.83. The market, however, closed near the day's lows - well under 9,800 levels.

The index is down by over half in 2008, with foreigners selling a net of 12.2 billion dollars in stocks so far this year, largely reversing 2007's record net buying of 17.4 billion dollars.

News

- Sensex ends up 460pts; Jaiprakash, TCS soar.
- Wockhardt's Sep qtr net down 44% to Rs 55cr.
- Telcos will have to pay for spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz: Raja.
- India to source uranium from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Nigeria.
- Stock market news: DIIs net buyers of Rs 884cr in cash mkt today.
- Airlines to pay Rs 30,000 for abrupt flight cancellation.
- NIIT PAT up 41% at Rs 29.7 cr.
- World Bank appoints Pulock Chatterji as executive director.
- LIC Housing Finance Q2 net up 16% at Rs 135 cr.
- Global M&A volume reaches $3 trillion mark.
- Petroleum Minister Deora to meet Aviation Minister Patel, oil cos, airlines tomorrow to sort out fuel bills issue. "We don't want airlines to shut down operations," Deora has said.

Dow Ends Rocky Week in Black

Dow Jones Industrial Average past 12 months chart:

US stocks declined Friday but held on to solid gains for the week, as investors wondered how badly the economy is ailing, and when it is going to recover.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained volatile Friday, swinging in a 563-point range including big gains and losses. A late-day swoon left the blue-chip measure down 127.04 points at the closing bell, off 1.4%, at 8852.22. Caterpillar was the Dow's weakest component on Friday, off 7.2% following a round of downbeat housing data. The average's financial names all finished lower as well, hurt by lingering worries about the credit crunch. Citigroup was the weakest of that group, off 6.4%.

But for the week, the Dow rose 4.8%, its first such gain since the meltdown of Lehman Brothers Holdings set off a global financial crisis in mid-September. The gain was also the Dow's biggest weekly rise in percentage terms since March 2003.

Although the global economy's weakness remains deep-seated for now, the timing of a potential turnaround also remains a hot topic of debate on Wall Street, with some investors placing early bets on a rebound both in the U.S. and overseas.

"Based on what we're seeing, the second half of this year is shaping up to be really, really bad," said Deutsche Bank economist Joe LaVorgna. "But it could also be so bad that it wipes out any remaining imbalances. What you'll be left with is a lot of pent-up demand."

Pump prices have generally been on the decline lately, but other pressures remain for consumers whose buying activity represents more than two-thirds of the overall U.S. economy. Employment has fallen for nine straight months, the struggles of major financial institutions have made it more difficult to get credit, and lower home prices have cut into the wealth of many families.

On Friday, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new dwellings dropped 6.3% last month to the slowest pace since January 1991, when the U.S. was in the midst of an eight-month recession and going through another painful housing correction.

However, that recession was brief by historical standards, unlike the scenario worrying some investors and analysts who say the current slump could last several years. Mr. LaVorgna said he believes those fears are overblown, with a recovery possible perhaps in the second quarter of 2009.

Similar sentiments were evident in a column in Friday's New York Times by renowned investor Warren Buffett, who recommended buying U.S. stocks. The billionaire said that his entire personal fortune may soon be invested in the domestic market in anticipation of an economic recovery.

"If you wait for the robins, spring will be over," wrote Mr. Buffett. "Bad news is an investor's best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America's future at a marked-down price."

Other stock measures slipped Friday but finished with weekly gains. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 940.55, up 4.6% on the week. The broad measure was hurt Friday by a 2.9% drop in its financial sector, although gains in basic materials and energy, up 2.7% and 2.2% respectively, kept the S&P's daily decline in check.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.4% for the day, ending at 1711.29, up 3.7% on the week. The small-stock Russell 2000 tumbled 1.9% to 526.43, up 0.8% on the week.

More instability is expected in the market in the weeks ahead. The Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index, which uses options prices to measure investors' nervousness about upcoming stock-market swings, was up about 4%, ending at 70.33.

Options contracts on individual stocks and major indexes expired on Friday, which added wider-than-normal swings in the market. Traders must buy or sell shares to offset their expiring options bets.

The credit markets showed further signs of easing, although traders and analysts warned that conditions could remain stop-and-go awhile longer. The British Bankers Association quoted Libor -- a key interbank lending rate -- at 4.41875% for three-month loans of U.S. dollars, down from Thursday's fixing of 4.5025%. The one-month rate fell to 4.18125% from 4.2775%.

But those rates are still well above the levels seen before the failure of Lehman Brothers and before the Federal Reserve and its overseas colleagues carried out their coordinated rate cuts.

Senate Vote Gives Bailout Plan New Life

Passage Gets Boost From Tax Breaks; Back to the House

The Senate handily passed a controversial financial rescue package on Wednesday, giving the bill its first legislative victory but adding provisions that could complicate efforts to push the $700 billion plan through the House of Representatives.

The compromise bill represented a marriage of the rescue proposal with a host of measures designed to win the support of reluctant lawmakers. Additions include an increase in bank deposit insurance limits, a suggested change to accounting rules, and a $150.5 billion package of unrelated personal and corporate tax cuts.

The additions boosted support in the Senate, which voted 74 to 25 in favor, the latest twist in the proposal's roller-coaster ride this week. Opposition came from conservatives, populists and senators facing tight races where the rescue bill is drawing criticism.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he expected the House would pass the bill, a sentiment echoed by other senators. House leaders expressed cautious optimism they could secure passage, but couldn't be definitive.

President George W. Bush has called the plan vital to secure the proper functioning of financial markets. But lawmakers and the administration have spent more than a week wrangling over the proposal amid a backlash from voters. The disagreements culminated in the unexpected rejection by the House on Monday, in defiance of congressional leaders and the White House, triggering the stock market to sink.

Stunned by the market response, lawmakers regrouped and added new items to the bill to win votes. Senate leaders took up the bill, which had stronger support in that chamber, with the aim of putting pressure on the House. Presidential rivals Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama flew back to the Capitol to cast votes in favor.

The 10-year, $150.5 billion package of tax proposals includes a measure to ease the bite of the alternative minimum tax, as well as research-and-development tax credits coveted by high-tech companies and drug makers. Its addition is designed to secure the support of Republicans, who were overwhelmingly opposed in the House. But it could irk conservative House Democrats because the measure will add to the deficit.

The bill also reaffirms the Securities and Exchange Commission's authority to suspend so-called mark-to-market accounting, an issue that gained surprising traction among lawmakers looking for less costly alternatives to the Bush plan. The practice, adopted in the aftermath of the savings-and-loan collapse in the 1980s, pegs the value of assets to their current market price, rather than the price paid for them.

Banks have complained the strict application of mark-to-market rules have forced them to write down billions worth of mortgage-related securities for which there are no buyers, intensifying the squeeze in the credit markets.

The bill, which started out less than three pages long, now comprises more than 400 pages.

A senior House Democratic aide said he was "cautiously optimistic" but put the responsibility on Republicans to come up with more votes. A spokesman for Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the minority leader, said: "We believe we have a better chance of passing this bill than the one on Monday, but we'll have to wait and see." The House could vote Thursday or Friday.

The core of Mr. Bush's rescue plan survives in the Senate bill. The measure authorizes Treasury to borrow $700 billion to buy up tainted mortgages, securities and other financial instruments that have weakened the financial system and frozen credit markets.

U.S. Seals Bailout Deal

The White House and congressional leaders agreed on a deal to authorize the biggest banking rescue in U.S. history.

The $700 billion program would effectively nationalize an array of mortgages and securities backed by them -- instruments whose deteriorating value has clogged the nation's financial system.

Lawmakers finished writing the bill late Sunday, after which Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declared it "frozen," meaning no changes would be made. The bill leaves many mechanics of the operation up to the Treasury. Among these are the crucial issues of how the U.S. government would decide which assets it will buy and how it would decide what to pay for them. The legislation leaves the Treasury 45 days to issue guidelines on those procedures. The bill awaits votes in Congress starting on Monday.

From big Wall Street houses to small community banks, executives have expressed an interest in signing up for the bailout. But some have said the extent of their involvement will depend on critical details.

The political fallout from the bailout could be substantial, given the enormous expenditure of taxpayer money. Some polls show wide opposition. But the legislation includes provisions designed to guard against ultimate losses for the government. And it calls on the Treasury, as an owner of mortgage securities, to "encourage the servicers of the underlying mortgages" to minimize foreclosures.

The deal came after tension-filled weekend negotiations, where the specter of a faltering economy collided with the politics of a presidential election to create one of the biggest congressional dramas of recent years. Saturday included a high-decibel exchange between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and congressional Democrats, a ban on handheld email devices to forestall news leaks, and a battery of lobbying calls from the president and the presidential candidates.

Bailout Compromise Gets New Life

Courtesy - Wall Street Journel

Negotiations Resume, With Nod to Conservatives' Objections

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration and Congress closed in on a new compromise aimed at stabilizing U.S. financial markets, a move designed to assuage conservatives who one day earlier had staged a revolt against the controversial $700 billion project.

The potential compromise isn't yet final, and details could change. But as of Friday night it appears that the plan's central elements, as originally envisioned by the Treasury Department, remain intact.

Congressional leaders were planning for possible votes Sunday.

The renewed effort represents a remarkable turnaround from the fracas that engulfed Washington Thursday night. In a sign of the political tensions at play, an earlier compromise plan was thrown into disarray after a White House meeting of top leaders -- including the two presidential candidates -- descended into a shouting match.

Republican nominee Sen. John McCain had returned to Washington to attend bailout negotiations. But the interjection of the presidential campaign, and the resulting finger-pointing, upset the delicate balance that had been struck in negotiations between congressional Democrats and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

"I would hope the two presidentials would go to the debate tonight and leave us alone to get our work done here," said Sen. Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, sounding exhausted on the Senate floor Friday morning.

Under the Bush plan, the Treasury Department would be able to buy $700 billion of toxic investments currently burdening many financial institutions. The hope is that doing so would encourage investors to recapitalize the struggling banks, and get the nation's bond markets working again.

It would also, however, put taxpayers on the hook for potential losses if the investments bought by the government didn't later recover some of their value.

House Republicans, antsy about the power granted to the Treasury under that original plan, wanted to replace it with one based on an insurance model: Banks would pay premiums into a pool of money that would then be used to cover losses on the bad assets in question.

Treasury officials had earlier told lawmakers the concept was unworkable, people familiar with the matter said. Indeed, officials there briefly considered it, but concluded it wouldn't be as effective in clearing the rot from banks' balance sheets.

The compromise being hammered out Friday night would graft the insurance concept onto the original Treasury plan, most likely as an option. That would satisfy the administration, which could chose not to use it, as well as conservative lawmakers, who can claim to have influenced the legislation.

The White House has already agreed to other Democratic demands for the bailout, including greater oversight of the plan, and pay curbs for executives at some companies that benefit from the bailout.

The administration also agreed to a commitment to help struggling homeowners. And it agreed for the $700 billion to be released in installments; $250 billion would be made available immediately.

As Friday unfolded, Democrats signaled a willingness to consider including some version of the insurance proposal. "Adding insurance as an option...that's never been an issue," said Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a lead negotiator.

At a late-afternoon news conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sounded conciliatory, suggesting that Mr. Paulson should have "the latitude to accept any and all proposals," so long as they don't interfere with the core goals of the bailout plan.

The unexpected opposition from House Republicans on Thursday had thrown into chaos efforts to craft a rescue package for the financial markets. Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, after working with the Bush White House for several days on details, said they felt blindsided by the Republican move.

The face-off reflected years of tension between the Bush White House and House Republicans, and exposed the ideological differences within the Republican Party over the role of government in free markets.

President George W. Bush, who urged lawmakers to "rise to the occasion" Friday, has said his first instinct is to not intervene in the market. But he became convinced of the need after Mr. Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the financial crisis could spread to Main Street from Wall Street and throw the country into a deep recession.

Many Senate Republicans, including Bob Bennett of Utah and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, have tried to be supportive of the White House's efforts to find common ground with Democrats. But conservatives who dominate the Republican Party's caucus in the House have been less amenable, particularly those disaffected with the Bush administration's sizable domestic spending and the realities of life as a minority party.

Rep. Tom Davis (R., Va.) said Republicans have felt like "bystanders" the past two years and wanted to be brought into the negotiations as full partners. Democrats "have got to come and meet us halfway," he said.

By midweek, it became clear that only a couple dozen of the 199 House Republicans were likely to support the plan in its existing form.

House Republicans say their alternative proposal would bring stability and new capital to the market. It would also remove regulatory barriers that they say block private investors from investing capital into ailing financial institutions.

"We were simply trying to come up with a constructive solution to break an impasse," said Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), who outlined the plan to Sen. McCain in a meeting Thursday.

The struggle over the bailout bill represents one of the most dramatic congressional showdowns of recent years. In 1990, the Democratic House voted down a major deficit-reduction package backed by the administration of the first President Bush. The package was later brought back to the floor and approved, but only after changes that tilted the measure to the left.

A few years later, the Republican-controlled Congress balked at the Clinton administration's plans to help rescue Mexico's economy, forcing the administration to use other measures to achieve its goals.

At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Friday, House Minority Leader John Boehner and other party leaders received an ovation for having resisted pressure to support the Bush-backed package during a White House meeting the previous day.

Global leaders seek Indian PM's expertise to salvage financial crisis

With the world gripped in financial crisis, the expertise of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a highly acclaimed economist, was much in demand as he met various leaders, including US President George Bush, in New York, where world leaders have gathered for the United Nations General Assembly.

Every leader the Prime Minister met sought his opinion on how to deal with the financial meltdown, Indian officials accompanying the Prime Minister have said.

The issue came up in a big way during his meeting with World Bank President Robert B Zoellick.

Singh, a World Bank economist-turned politician, is expected to speak on the subject in his presentation at the United Nations General Assembly.

Sensex shed 445pts; Realty, metal, banking stocks slide

The Sensex opened 65 points lower at 13,482 on weak cues from other Asian markets. Persistent weakness, thereafter, saw the index slip deeper into red as the day progressed.

Realty, metal and banking stocks bore the brunt of the selling pressure today. The Sensex dropped to a low of 13,054, and finally settled with a loss of 445 points at 13,102.

The BSE Realty index slumped 6.3% (243 points) to 3,597. The Metal index shed 4.8% (475 points) at 9,502, and the Bankex dropped 4.3% (293 points) to 6,571.

The market breadth was extremely negative - out of 2,673 stocks traded, 2,170 declined, 444 advanced and the rest were unchanged today.

INDEX SHAKERS...

Ranbaxy slumped 8% to Rs 272.

Sterlite, ICICI Bank and Grasim tumbled around 6% each to Rs 447, Rs 561 and Rs 1,761, respectively.

Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, BHEL and DLF plunged around 5% each to Rs 99, Rs 531, Rs 1,551 and Rs 370, respectively.

Tata Steel, Reliance Communications and Maruti shed nearly 5% each at Rs 461, Rs 348 and Rs 671, respectively.

HDFC Bank, SBI, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys dropped around 4% each to Rs 1,246, Rs 1,434, Rs 2,468 and Rs 1,448, respectively.

HDFC and ONGC slipped 3.5% each to Rs 2,089 and Rs 1,035, respectively.

Reliance Infrastrcuture, Reliance, NTPC and Tata Motors were down around 3% each to Rs 850, Rs 1,961, Rs 174 and Rs 373, respectively.

...AND THE MOVERS

ITC surged 2% to Rs 192, and Hindustan Unilever was up over 1% at Rs 253.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Reliance Capital topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 478.70 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 373 crore), Axis Bank (Rs 170.40 crore), Jai Corp (Rs 167.55 crore) and Larsen & Toubro (Rs 144.55 crore).

IFCI led the volume chart with trades of around 96.75 lakh shares followed by Anant Raj Industries (87.80 lakh), Reliance Natural Resources (85.80 lakh), Sesa Goa (82 lakh) and Idea Cellular (65.80 lakh).

Kingfisher sacks 300 ex-Air Deccan employees

Three hundred employees of Air Deccan, now re-branded Kingfisher Red, are being laid off by Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines, just weeks after the completion of merger between the two Bangalore-based carriers. On Monday morning, the staff at Bangalore and some other offices was asked to accept the severance package and resign.

The process would continue for a day or two. Many of these employees have been with Air Deccan for nearly five years.

According to Kingfisher spokesman, the retrenched employees include 200 security personnel, 50 airport services staff and 50 from the engineering department. These employees were given a severance package equal to two months gross salary for every completed year of service (subject to a minimum of 3 months pay-out).

A week ago JetLite had announced plans to cut 800 employees from its 2,300 workforce.

PepsiCo announces $500 million investment in India

PepsiCo chairperson and chief executive Indra Nooyi has announced an investment of $500 million in India over the next three years to triple revenues by 2014.

The investment would be spread over manufacturing, market infrastructure, environment sustainability initiatives, research, new products and agriculture, Chennai-born Nooyi said.

'The new investment will contribute 50,000 new direct and indirect jobs to the Indian economy,' she said at a press conference here.

'India is among the top five market of PepsiCo and we remain extremely bullish on the country, she added

Nooyi is in India to chair the $39-billion food and beverages giant's two-day annual conclave from Monday.

Besides Nooyi, some of the top executives expected at the meeting include chief executive and vice chairman Michael D. White, senior vice president and general counsel Larry Thompson, and PepsiCo UK president Salman Amin.

PeosiCo, which entered India in 1989 mainly as a beverages company, has invested $700 million in the country so far. It has 43 bottling plants in India, of which the company owns 15, while the rest are operated by franchisees.

It also has three factories to manufacture the Frito-Lay range of potato chips, Cheetos extruded snacks, and traditional Indian snacks under the Kurkure and Lehar brands.

Rs 1 lakh cr club shrinks

As the market continues to bleed, major Indian companies have lost significantly on market capitalisations and the prominent losers from the benchmark index at the Bombay stock exchange are DLF, ICICI Bank and Reliance Communications. Indian companies have lost significant value in market capitalisations since January 10 when the market started to slip.

There has been a significant fall in the number of companies that command market capitalisation of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore. The number has reduced from 13 to five since January 10.

Out of the list of 30 companies listed in the benchmark index at Bombay Stock Exchange - Sensex, only four companies form a part of the elite club now, which earlier stood at 10. The list includes two companies operating in oil sector that have been doing well on the back of rising oil prices -Reliance Industries and ONGC. The two others are - NTPC and Bharti Airtel.

Out of the Sensex companies that held a market cap above the Rs one lakh crore, DLF has been the biggest loser with two thirds of its value lost. ICICI Bank is the second biggest loser with a fall in value of 57 per cent.

By comparison, its nearest rival in the private sector -HDFC Bank has lost only 15 per cent since then. The third biggest loser is Reliance Communications, which has lost almost 55 per cent of its value.

In comparison Bharti Airtel, its competitor in the same industry has lost only 21 per cent of its value.

Wkly Review: Sensex recovers sharp losses, ends week on a +ve note

In a roller-coaster ride during the week under review, some positive developments at the fag-end of the week helped the benchmark Sensex to rebound from early sharp losses, ending with a gain of over 41 points.

Steps taken by US policymakers and other top central banks globally to pump billions of dollars to revive the scary financial system and positive statements by the local government, assisted the Sensex to recover from a nine-week low of 12,558.14 points to close the week above the 14K-level.

Marketmen said morale-boosting signals from New Delhi after a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also boosted investor sentiment.

The PM's caution came during the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs meeting after Finance Minister P Chidambaram briefed about the financial crisis in US while stating the Indian economy was not affected by the developments.

Tracking global trends which rallied after regulators in the UK and US halted short-selling in financial stocks on late Thursday, boosted the badly battered investors' confidence which had touched rock bottom after the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers and distress sale of Merrill Lynch.

In the week to September 20, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer recovered its early losses sharply to end the week at 14,042.32 points, a mere rise of 41.51 points or 0.30 per cent over the previous weekend close.

Similarly, the 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also recouped by 16.80 points or 0.40 per cent to close the week at 4,245.25 points from the last weekend close.

RIL, ONGC, HDFC Bank, HDFC, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ACC, Tata Motors, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Powers were the major gainers from the Sensex pack, while Ranbaxy, DLF, Jaiprakash Associates, Grasim, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Reliance Com, REL Infra, Satyam Computer, Sterlite, Tata Steel and TCS suffered a sharp to moderate setback.

Reflecting a rally in some of the refinery and banking counters, the BSE-Oil&Gas index rose by 351.98 points or 3.86 per cent and the Bankex by 80.66 points or 1.15 per cent.

Although a battered realty segment attracted good buying support on Friday, it was the biggest loser from the sectoral indices. BSE-Realty index tumbled by 591.08 points or 12.59 per cent followed by the BSE-Metal by 847.83 points or 7.79 per cent and the BSE-CD by 264.21 points or 7.39 per cent.

Depicting a heavy sell-off in small-cap and mid-cap counters, BSE-Smallcap index plunged by 495.55 points or 7.38 per cent and the BSE-Midcap by 308.36 points or 5.57 per cent.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index declined by 58.60 points or 0.80 per cent to end the week at 7,285.77 points from 7,344.37 points.

The BSE-200 Index and the Dollex-200 were also quoted further lower at 1,695.81 and 611.44 at the weekend compared to last weekend's close of 1,1717.28 and 626.44 respectively.

On the NSE, the S&P CNX Defty eased by 21.50 points or 0.67 per cent to close the week at 3,189.80 from 3,211.30 last weekend and the CNX Nifty Junior also ended the week down by 251.25 points or 3.67 per cent to 6,591.55 points from previous weekend's close of 6,842.80 points.

Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Metal Index nosedived by 904.35 points or 7.67 per cent to 10,881.42, the BSE Realty Index by 285.54 points or 5.73 per cent to 4,693.72, the BSE CD Index by 211.00 points or 5.57 per cent to 3,575.28 and the BSE Oil&Gas Index by 536.24 points or 5.56 per cent to 9,116.44.

News...

- Wall St ends flat; Indian ADRs end mixed
- FIIs net sell Rs 777cr in F&O on Friday
- FII-TO-FII TRADES: Pantaloon traded at 26% premium
- Govt not to extend export freight assistance to sugar mills
- Industrial growth above expectation, chambers want rates cut
- Cheaper crude welcome; but no fuel price cut on cards: Deora
- Goldman Sachs expects RBI to up rates one more time
- Industrial production dips to 7.1% y-o-y
- HC asks CIC not to disclose text of agreement with Tatas
- Govt rules out regulating steel prices
- Petroleum Min mulling dual pricing policy for diesel
- Rupee loses 18 paise to touch new 23-month low

Market closings on Friday, September 12...

Sensex 14001 (-323)
Nifty 4228 (-62)
Rs-$ 45.72
Gold (Rs) 11347 (0)
Silver (Rs) 17962 (0)

Industry expands 7 per cent in July

India's industrial output grew at a faster rate of 7.1 per cent in July this year surpassing consensus estimate by a wide margin mainly on account of higher production of capital goods and consumer durables.

Sensex ends up 551pts; banking, realty stocks rally

Following yesterday's late pull-back, the Sensex opened with a positive gap of 110 points at 14,609. Agressive buying in the second half of the trading backed by a sharp fall in US crude oil prices saw the index rally past the 15,000-mark.

Banking, realty, energy and capital goods stocks were the major gainers today. The Sensex touched a high of 15,106, and finally ended with a gain of 551 points at 15,050.

The BSE Realty index soared 7.3% (367 points) to 5,367, and the Bankex zoomed 6% (425 points) to 7,447.

The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,733 stocks traded, 1,675 advanced, 986 declined and the rest were unchanged today.

INDEX MOVERS...

SBI and ICICI Bank zoomed over 7% each to Rs 1,521 and Rs 713, respectively. HDFC soared 4.7% to Rs 2,445, and HDFC Bank rallied 3.5% to Rs 1,341.

DLF and Jaiprakash Associates surged around 7% each to Rs 530 and Rs 174, respectively. Reliance Infrastructure gained 6% at Rs 1,042.

ONGC soared 7% to Rs 1,102. Maruti and Larsen & Toubro rallied over 4.5% each to Rs 664 and Rs 2,681, respectively.

TCS, ACC, Reliance Communications and Wipro surged 4% each to Rs 849, Rs 588, Rs 405 and Rs 451, respectively.

BHEL and Reliance moved up 3.5% each to Rs 1,785 and Rs 2,214, respectively.

Grasim, Infosys and Tata Power were up 3% each at Rs 2,002, Rs 1,775 and Rs 1,070, respectively.

...AND THE SHAKERS

Ranbaxy and Tata Motors slipped nearly 2% each to Rs 490 and Rs 430, respectively.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Resurgere Mines topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 928.50 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 292.40 crore), Reliance (Rs 218.35 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 209.25 crore) and Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 198.40 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 2.06 crore shares followed Resurgere Mines (1.63 crore), IFCI (1.05 crore), IDFC (90.40 lakh) and Marksans (85.25 lakh).

Business news...

- L&T to raise $400 mn in foreign debt
- Food products keep Pepsi fizz going
- SpiceJet posts Q1 loss of Rs 129 cr
- Ranbaxy loses Lipitor patent case in Denmark
- Developers may prune hotel projects, sell assets
- Ratnagiri to triple power output
- Sunil Mittal, others back Tatas
- Govt wants GAIL, NTPC to infuse Rs 950 cr in Dabhol

Sensex rallies 516pts on August 29; financial, realty stocks lead...

Strong cues from global markets coupled with a dip in inflation, saw the Sensex open on August 29 with a positive gap of 231 points at 14,279.

Aggressive buying in financial and realty stocks saw the index rally to higher levels as the day progressed. The upmove was so strong that the market also discounted the GDP numbers, which indicated a slowdown in economic growth to 7.9% in the June quarter.

The index rallied all the way to a high of 14,586, and finally ended on a firm note at 14,565 - up 516 points.

The BSE Bankex soared 6.3% to 7,010, and the Realty index surged over 5% to 4,995.

The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,742 stocks traded, 1,847 declined, 794 advanced and 101 were unchanged.

INDEX MOVERS...

SBI zoomed over 7% to Rs 1,404. ICICI Bank soared 6% to Rs 672. HDFC Bank rallied over 5% to Rs 1,277, and HDFC has gained 4.3% at Rs 2,344.

Reliance Infrastructure surged 6% to Rs 991. DLF and Tata Motors advanced around 5.5% each to Rs 493 and Rs 440, respectively.

Jaiprakash Associates and Tata Steel rallied 5% each to Rs 164 and Rs 600, respectively.

BHEL moved up 4.8% to Rs 1,707, and Wipro added 4.4% to Rs 432.

Bharti Airtel soared over 4% to Rs 837. Larsen & Toubro, Tata Power and Satyam advanced around 3.5% each to Rs 2,590, Rs 1,051 and Rs 420, respectively.

Maruti, Sterlite and Reliance were up over 3% each at Rs 650, Rs 627 and Rs 2,137, respectively.

Infosys, NTPC, ITC, Reliance Communications, TCS and ONGC also finished with smart gains.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Bharti Airtel topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 867.60 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 310 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 171.10 crore), Reliance (Rs 163.50 crore) and SBI (Rs 161.30 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 1.41 crore shares followed by Bharti Airtel (1.07 crore), Chambal Fertilisers (81 lakh), IFCI (78.20 lakh) and Ispat Industries (75.60 lakh).

News...

- Govt asks PFRDA to make pension scheme universal
- After five-year wait, govt finally approves Companies Bill
- Work at Singur plant halted, indefinitely
- L&T to raise $400 mn in foreign debt
- GDP falls to 7.9%
- Govt approves changes to airport tariff regulator Bill
- RBI optimistic on growth this fiscal
- Insurance companies invest more in government securities
- FM wants FIIs in currency futures
- UTI looking for strategic investors, says Chidambaram

Sensex ends up 43pts at 14,493

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 112 points at 14,338 on the back of weak cues from the global markets. Buying in technology stocks, however, stemmed the downmove.

The index touched a low of 14,286 and thereafter exhibited steady movement for most part of the trading day. Fresh buying in select auto and banking stocks in late noon trades helped the index recoup its losses and rebound into the positive zone.

The Sensex touched a high of 14,495, and finally ended (provisional) with a gain of 43 points at 14,493.

Sensex pares gains on profit-taking; HDFC advances 4%

The Sensex opened with a significant positive gap of 242 points at 14,643, and soon touched a high of 14,673 backed by smart gains in financial and realty stocks. Thereafter the index displayed firm trend in the first half of the trading day.

However, profit-taking towards the close saw the the index pare gains and touch a low of 14,416. The Sensex finally ended with a nominal gain of 49 points at 14,450.

The BSE Realty index surged 2% to 5,044, and the Bankex moved up 1.3% to 6,746. On the other hand, the Metal and Power indices slipped 1% each to 12,243 and 2,573, respectively.

The market breadth was marginally positive - out of 2,722 stocks traded, 1,347 advanced and 1,287 declined today.

INDEX MOVERS...

HDFC soared 3.6% to Rs 2,363. Mahindra & Mahindra surged 2.6% to Rs 564, and DLF gained 2.3% at Rs 495.

Tata Motors rallied 2% to Rs 434. Satyam and ICICI Bank moved up 1.8% each to Rs 393 and Rs 656, respectively.

Grasim moved up 1.5% to Rs 1,958. HDFC Bank was up over 1% at Rs 1,208.

...AND THE SHAKERS

Tata Power and Jaiprakash Associates dropped nearly 3% each to Rs 1,021 and Rs 160, respectively.

Ranbaxy shed 2% at Rs 512. BHEL and Tata Steel slipped around 1.5% each to Rs 1,689 and Rs 586, respectively.

Sterlite declined 1.3% to Rs 618. Maruti was down over 1% at Rs 624.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Vishal Info topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 196.90 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 146.70 crore), Reliance (Rs 119 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 114.70 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 90.10 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 1.20 crore shares followed by Vishal Info (62.60 lakh), Kashyap Technologies (59 lakh), Chambal Fertilisers (51.80 lakh) and Ispat Industries (50.80 lakh).

International Business News...

Dollar's Rise Could Damp Inflation

The dollar marched higher again, continuing a development that could ease inflationary pressures but also could slow an export boom. The dollar's rally is a sign of weakness in other economies and closely tied to recent declines in oil and other commodity prices.


Dubai's Anti-'Credit Crunch'

As oil-fueled economic growth in the Persian Gulf surges, banks are finding that they don't have enough cash to meet all the demand from businesses to expand their operations. The development could provide an important brake on how quickly the region can grow.


OPEC May Cut Output Next Month

OPEC could decide to roll over or cut crude oil production from existing levels when the group meets in early September in Vienna, Iran's OPEC governor said.


The Dividends From Far, Far Away

As aging baby-boomers in the U.S. look for ways to get income, a number of mutual funds and ETFs have been launched with a focus on dividend-paying foreign stocks. Of course, high-yielding foreign stocks bring their own risks.


Auction-Rate Blowback Continues

Wachovia will buy back billions of dollars in auction-rate securities it sold to retail clients, as part of an agreement with state and federal regulators. Cuomo said he is preparing to sue Merrill Lynch over the complex instruments.


Cablevision To Issue Quarterly Dividend

Cablevision said will pay its first quarterly dividend of 10 cents a share. The move comes a week after the company's board authorized a review to look at options including issuing dividends, buying back shares and spinning off assets.


Ford To Sell $500 Million In Shares

Ford will sell up to $500 million of its shares to buy back debt from its credit arm, seeking to shore up its finances.


For Amex, A High-Yield Debt Issue

American Express Credit became the latest financial to sell bonds with juicy premiums as investors continue to demand more and more attractive pricing terms on new deals. Treasurys ended in the best shape seen for weeks.


Pershing Taps Blackstone On Longs

Pershing Square hired Blackstone to help the hedge fund drive up the purchase price for Longs Drug Stores.


Reed Sale To Enter Critical Stage

The sale of Reed Elsevier's trade-magazine division will enter a crucial phase as early as Monday, as a second round of offers will be solicited. The auction is being closely watched for clues as to the health of the private-equity market.


China's Growth Likely To Keep Steady

A pickup in China's investment growth in July is likely to help offset the effect of weakening external demand and keep economic growth steady, one of the policy tasks Beijing recently set for itself.


Japanese Snap Up Rand, Turkish Lira

Japanese small investors' appetite for higher returns could be a boon for the high-yielding currencies of South Africa, Turkey and Brazil.


Amerigroup To Settle Medicaid Case

Amerigroup has agreed to pay $225 million to settle claims that it defrauded the Illinois Medicaid program, state and federal prosecutors have said.


CIT Group Stirs Trading Activity

Shares of CIT Group have been in a tailspin for a year, but options traders appeared to be betting on a mild rebound in the commercial finance company.


LBO Comes With Twists

Permira's purchase of NDS isn't the usual leveraged takeover. The $3.7 billion deal may enrich the big European private-equity firm if all goes well, but it projects a bleak image of the buyout industry's prospects.

Happy Independence Day...

India celebrates 61 years of Independence today. Cheers!

Sensex ends down 119pts; ICICI, HDFC Bank fall 3.7% each...

Mirroring weak trend in the global markets, the Sensex opened with a negative gap of 182 points at 15,030, and soon touched a low of 15,013. Fresh buying at lower levels helped the index recoup The index and rebound into the positive zone to a high of 15,273 - up 243 points from the day's low.

However, the index could not hold gains, and finally ended with a loss of 119 points at 15,093 today.

The BSE Bankex dropped 2.2% to 7,271, and the Reatly index slipped 1.3% to 5,611. On the other hand, the BSE IT and Healthcare indices moved up over 1% each to 3,814 and 4,280, respectively.

The market breadth was marginally negative - out of 2,749 stocks traded, 1,420 declined, 1,238 advanced and 91 were unchanged today.

The NSE Nifty was down 23 points at 4,529.

INDEX SHAKERS...

ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank dropped 3.7% each to Rs 711 and Rs 1,217, respectively.

DLF shed 3.3% at Rs 549, and Reliance Infrastructure slipped 2.5% to Rs 1,068.

HDFC and Hindalco plunged 2% each to Rs 2,414 and Rs 140, respectively.

Larsen & Toubro, Tata Power and Reliance Communications declined nearly 2% each to Rs 2,796, Rs 1,019 and Rs 440, respectively.

Maruti, BHEL and Jaiprakash Associates were down 1% each at Rs 670, Rs 1,787 and Rs 187, respectively.

AND THE MOVERS...

Sterlite surged 2.7% to Rs 613.

Infosys and TCS advanced over 1% each to Rs 1,625 and Rs 828, respectively. Satyam was up nearly 1% at Rs 406.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS...

Reliance Natural Resources topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 252.70 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 237.80 crore), Reliance (Rs 214.15 crore), Vishal Info (213.20 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 136.90 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 2.45 crore shares followed by Chambal Fertilisers (1.13 crore), Nagarjuna Fertilisers (1.10 crore), Ispat Industries (1 crore) and Vishal Info (93.20 lakh).

Abhinav Bindra bags first Olympic gold for India at Beijing - and first ever Indian invdividual gold medal...

Great news for India - actually "historic" news is the right phrase. Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra has claimed the first ever individual gold for India after winning the men's 10m air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics.

News at 11 am...

- Sensex below 15K; Tata Motors slips 4%
- FIIs net sell Rs 226cr in F&O on Thursday
- Asian markets mixed; Nikkei down 74pts
- Tech View: Markets lacking in follow-up buying
- F&O Outlook: Resistance at 4500-4550
- Wall St slips; ADRs end mixed
- FII-TO-FII: Union Bank traded at 7% premium
- Inflation at 12.01% for first time in 13 years
- Key US lawmaker pushes for conditional NSG waiver for India
- Impeachment motion against Musharraf on August 11
- RIL-RNRL case adjourned till August 12

Markets subdued; Sterlite gains 4%, BHEL drops 3%

The Sensex opened 42 points lower at 15,032, and soon touched a low of 14,993. The index, thereafter, rebounded into the positive zone and touched a high of 15,280 - up 287 points from the day's low - amid alternate bouts of buying and selling.

For the second consecutive day, the index eventually pared gains and settled with a marginally higher (44 points) at 15,117.

The market breadth was marginally positive - out of 2,785 stocks traded, 1,412 moved up, 1,280 declined and 93 were unchanged today.

The NSE Nifty moved up six points to end at 4,524.

INDEX MOVERS...

Sterlite soared 4.4% to Rs 614. Tata Motors surged over 4% to Rs 444.

HDFC rallied 3.4% to Rs 2,477, and HDFC Bank added 3% to Rs 1,254.

Grasim, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti gained 2.5% each at Rs 2,089, Rs 576 and Rs 669, respectively.

Satyam moved up 2.3% to Rs 417. DLF and NTPC advanced 1.8% each to Rs 555 and Rs 183, respectively.

Infosys, Reliance Infrastructure and Jaiprakash Associates were up over 1% each at Rs 1,721, Rs 1,024 and Rs 187, respectively.

...AND THE SHAKERS

BHEL dropped nearly 3% to Rs 1,775. Bharti Airtel shed 2.3% at Rs 850.

Reliance Communications and Ranbaxy slipped 1.7% each to Rs 439 and Rs 504, respectively.

Hindustan Unilever declined 1.5% to Rs 242. Wipro, Tata Power and Reliance were down over 1% each at Rs 449, Rs 1,050 and Rs 2,271, respectively.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Reliance Capital topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 342.50 crore followed by Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 296 crore), Reliance (Rs 235.80 crore), SEL Manufacturing (Rs 228 crore) and ONGC (Rs 137.80 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 2.92 crore shares followed by Ispat Industries (1.41 crore), Tata Teleservices (1.19 crore), Kashyap Technologies (88.30 lakh) and Chambal Fertilisers (86 lakh).

Sensex pares gains on profit-taking, ends up 113pts...

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 303 points to 15,264 on the back of positive cues from the global markets. Fresh buying, thereafter, saw the index rally to a high of 15,423 - up 462 points from the previous close.

The markets displayed strength for most part of the trading day. However, aggressive profit-taking in the last one-hour of trades saw the index pare gains and drop to a low of 15,036. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 113 points at 15,074.

The market breadth turned negative towards the close - out of 2,786 stocks traded, 1,446 declined, 1,265 advanced and the rest were unchanged today.

The NSE Nifty touched a high of 4,616 - up 113 points - in morning trades, but eventually finished with a marginal gain of 15 points at 4,518.

INDEX MOVERS...

Maruti zoomed over 6% to Rs 653. Tata Motors soared 4.3% to Rs 427.

Bharti Airtel and ACC surged 3.5% each to Rs 870 and Rs 638, respectively.

TCS and BHEL rallied over 3% each to Rs 858 and Rs 1,827, respectively.

HDFC Bank advanced 2.7% to Rs 1,217. Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Unilever gained around 2.5% each at Rs 562, Rs 2,764 and Rs 246, respectively.

ICICI Bank and Satyam added 2% each to Rs 707 and Rs 407, respectively.

ONGC, Wipro and Infosys were up 1.3% each at Rs 1,016, Rs 453 and Rs 1,699, respectively.

...AND THE SHAKERS

Tata Steel plunged 4.5% to Rs 646. Tata Power and SBI tumbled around 3.5% each to Rs 1,061 and Rs 1,524, respectively.

Reliance Infrastructure slipped over 3% to Rs 1,011, while HDFC shed 2.8% at Rs 2,396.

DLF dropped 1.5% to Rs 545. NTPC was down 1% at Rs 180.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Reliance Natural Resources topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 374 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 353 crore), Reliance (Rs 327 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 289.50 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 206.35 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 3.60 crore shares followed by Ispat Industries (1.42 crore), Kashyap Technologies (1.28 crore), IFCI (1.10 crore) and IDFC (87.80 lakh).