The Sensex once again slipped in the red in early-afternoon trade. Earlier, the market had staged a solid rebound from an initial slump caused by setback in Asian markets. The market witnessed volatility in early trade. Market breadth was positive on BSE after initial weakness. Cash market turnover crossed Rs 4,000 crore mark on BSE

At 12:27 IST, the BSE 30-share Sensex was down 19.25 points, or 0.11%, to 17,540.73 points. It opened 300.33 points lower at 17,259.65 and slipped to a low of 17171.45. At the days low of 17,171.45, the Sensex had lost 388.53 points for the day. From here it staged as solid rebound to hit a high of 17,704.83 so far during the day. At day's high of 17,704.83, Sensex had risen 144.85 points for the day.

The broader based S&P; CNX Nifty was down 26.65 points, or 0.51 %, to 5,188.65.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.19% to 7,324.45, while the BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.38% to 8,922.19. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex

Of the 30 shares of the Sensex, 17 advanced while the remaining declined. The market breadth was strong on BSE, after the initial weakness as buying resumed for small and mid-cap stocks. 1417 scrips advanced as compared to 994 that declined, while 79 remained unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4013 crore by 12:30 IST as compared to Rs 3003 crore by 11:30 IST.

Sectoral indices on BSE displayed mixed trend. BSE Auto Index (up 0.05% at 5,299.49), BSE PSU index (up 1.13% to 8,303.60), Bankex (up 2.14% to 9,026.37), BSE Health Care Index (up 0.57% at 3,736.21), BSE FMCG Index (up 1.03% at 2,042.46), BSE Capital Goods Index (up 1.44% at 15,650.91), BSE Oil and Gas Index (up 0.41% at 10,284.78), and BSE Metal Index (up 0.81% at 14,597.08), outperformed the Sensex.

BSE Consumer Durables index (down 0.36% to 4,759.35), BSE IT Index (down 1.39% at 4,620.61), BSE TecK index (down 0.86% to 3,883.64), BSE BSE Realty (down 0.70% to 8,990.01), were underperformers.

Reliance Energy, the countrys second largest power utility company in terms of sales, jumped 7.93% to Rs 1435 on 21.23 lakh shares. The stock surged sharply from early lows of Rs 1255, on value buying. The stock plunged 18.52% in past one week to Rs 1333.25 on 19 October 2007.

North Indias largest cement manufacturer, Ambuja Cements gained 3.37% to Rs 144.30 on 5.05 crore shares after three block deals of 1.57 crore shares each were executed on the counter on BSE in opening trade at an average price of Rs 144.42 per share. It was the top traded counter on BSE with total turnover of Rs 730.89 crore

ICICI Bank, the countrys largest private sector bank in terms of net profit rose 3.02% to Rs 1055. Its net profit rose 32.7% to Rs 1002.60 crore on 41% growth in total income to Rs 9588.41 crore in Q2 September 2007 over Q2 September 2006. The results hit the market after trading hours on Friday, 19 October 2007.

Hindalco Industries (up 3.06% to Rs 180) and ACC (up 3.92% to Rs 1030), were the other gainers from Sensex pack.

Indias largest oil exploration company by market capitalisation Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 1.53% to Rs 1125. As per reports, it has submitted to the directorate general of hydrocarbons (DGH) an appraisal and conceptual development plan for its Krishna Godavari basin block KG-DWN-98/2.

Indias largest private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 0.70% to Rs 2451.80 on 4.86 lakh shares. It recovered sharply from early lows of Rs 2395. As a part of a restructuring exercise, RIL has reportedly decided to hive off Reliance Fresh into a separate company, Ranger Farm, for single point accountability. Reliance Fresh sells food, fruits and vegetables and consumer products.

Indias largest listed cellular services provider by sales, Bharti Airtel slipped 3.67% to Rs 933 on concerns that the launch of nationwide GSM services by rival Reliance Communications would eat into its market share. The scrip, however, recovered from early lows of Rs 909. It was still the top loser from Sensex pack. Reliance Communications (RCom), on Friday, 19 October 2007, got nod to launch nationwide GSM-based cellular services from Department of Telecom (DoT). Meanwhile, Reliance Communications advanced 1.20% to Rs 735.90

IT stocks extended early losses on worries about a downturn in the United States, where the firms earn more than half their revenue. Satyam Computers (down 2.18% to Rs 450), TCS (down 2.88% to Rs 1074.90), Wipro (down 2.31% to Rs 488.15) and Infosys (down 1.37% to Rs 1881.95), edged lower.

Shanthi Gears rose 4.65% to Rs 70.90 on reporting 52.39% rise in net profit to Rs 10.5 crore on 26.18% rise in sales to Rs 59.37 crore in Q2 September 2007 over Q2 September 2006.

IMP Powers soared 5.76% to Rs 192 after the company said it bagged an order worth Rs 65 crore to supply transformers to Maharashtra State Electricity Board.

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company surged 7.80% to Rs 143.50 on reporting 63.05% rise in net profit to Rs 120.58 crore on 66.67% rise in total income to Rs 1,164.84 crore in Q2 September 2007 over Q2 September 20066.

PTC India rose 2.50% to Rs 95.50 on its plans to sell up to 40% stake in its financial services subsidiary PTC India Financial Services.

A crucial meeting of the panel set up by the government to look into Left fronts concerns over the Indo-US nuclear deal holds its fifth meeting today, 22 October 2007, with Left front demanding a clear statement that the deal is off.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India chairman, M Damodaran, will hold a video conference with overseas investors today, 22 October 2007, to clarify all issues arising from the draft proposal on participatory notes (PNs) released by the regulator on Tuesday, 16 October 2007.

After trading hours on Tuesday, 16 October 2007, Sebi issued draft proposals wherein the market regulator proposed restriction on use of the popular participatory notes (PNs) route of FII inflow and it also recommended unwinding of some PNs within 18 months. PNs are financial instruments used by foreign investors that are not registered with Sebi, to invest in Indian shares. FIIs and their sub-accounts buy Indian securities and then issue PNs to foreign investors with these securities as the underlying.

Asian markets were trading weak today, 22 October 2007, in the wake of a sell-off on Wall Street on Friday, 19 October 2007. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 2.53% at 28,720.83), Japan's Nikkei (down 2.24% at 16,438.47), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 2.67% at 9,355.27), Singapore's Straits Times (down 2.31% at 3,661.58) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 3.39% at 1,903.39) all edged lower.

US markets tumbled on Friday, 19 October 2007, amid lackluster profit reports and credit concerns on Black Monday Anniversary. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 366.94 points, or 2.64%, to 13,522.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 39.45 points, or 2.56%, to 1,500.63, and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 74.15 points, or 2.65%, to 2,725.

India's wholesale price index rose 3.07% in the 12 months to 6 October 2007, lower than the previous week's 3.26% rise, government data released on Friday, 19 October 2007 showed. It was the lowest annual rise in 5 years.

Volatility is expected to remain high for in coming few days ahead of expiry of October 2007 derivatives contracts on Thursday, 25 October 2007.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1750.76 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 186.26 crore on Friday, 19 October 2007.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, 22 October 2007 on profit taking from record highs, but hovered near $88 on simmering geo-political tensions and a weak dollar. US light crude for November delivery fell 77 cents to $87.83 a barrel. On Friday, 19 October 2007, it touched an all-time high of $90.07. London