The market snapped three day rally and Sensex declined more than 450 points at one point of time towards the latter part of trade. The market had made a sharp recovery from lower level from in mid-afternoon trade from initial fall but the recovery proved short-lived and the market soon weakened again. Reliance Industries declined sharply from day's high. Most of the sectoral indices slipped into the red. European markets, which opened after Indian markets, were weak.

The BSE 30-share Sensex provisionally ended down 362.54 points, or 1.93%, to 18,451.53 points. It hit a intraday low of 18,336 in late trade. At day's low of 18,336, Sensex had declined 478.07 points for the day.

The broader based S&P; CNX Nifty was provisionally ended down 87.85 points, or 1.59%, to 5,437.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 9320 crore, lower than Thursday (11 October 2007)'s Rs 10,603.46 crore.

The market had witnessed a recovery from lower level in early afternoon trade from an initial slide as political worries eased after Congress president Sonia Gandhi reiterated that she doesnt want early election. India's index of industrial production (IIP) data showed healthly growth in August 2007. Inflation eased a little bit. Both IIP and inflation data hit the market in early afternoon trade today. Mid-cap and small-cap indices outperformed Sensex.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the economy can sustain a growth rate of 9%, but the growth may dip below 9% in case of some turbulence. Chidambaram said the steep rise in stock markets is cause for concern. The rally is being driven by large inflows of overseas funds, and the markets may cool down after some time, he added.

The BSE Mid Cap index declined 0.66% to 7,540.40 and BSE Small Cap index down 0.06% to 9,114.80. Both these indices outperformed the market.

Only metal index edged higher while rest of the sectoral indices on BSE were subdued. Capital goods, banking and real estate stocks declined sharply. Reliance Industries pared gains after hitting all-time high. Market breadth was weak. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, were subdued to weak.

Of the 30 shares of the Sensex, 5 moved up, while the remaining were trading down. The market breadth was weak on BSE: 1,046 scrips advanced, 1,661 declined, while 384 remained unchanged.

India's industrial output in August 2007 rose 10.7% from a year earlier, higher than upwardly revised annual growth of 7.5% in July 2007 due to mining, manufacturing and electricity production, data released by the government showed on Friday, 12 October 2007.

Manufacturing production rose 10.4% in August 2007 from a year earlier, compared with provisional annual growth of 7.2% in July 2007. The leader of India's Congress party and the most powerful politician in the country, Sonia Gandhi, said on Friday, 12 October 2007, she did not want an early election and was hoping to resolve differences with communist allies.

Elections are still far away and the government has one-and-a-half years to complete, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today, 12 October 2007. The prime minister said if the India-United States civil nuclear deal does not come through, it will be a disappointment. He said the government was trying to reconcile the divergent points of view on the issue within the ruling coalition. Dr. Singh said ys it is his hope that on the nuclear deal, common sense will ultimately prevail.

He said it is his hope and expectation that the government will stay the course and noted there is a lot of unfinished agenda left to be completed. Left front which is supporting the government from outside has been against operationalisation of the nuclear deal with the US, which had caused a rift between the government and the Left front.

India's wholesale price index (WPI) rose 3.26% in the 12 months to 29 September 2007, lower than the previous week's 3.42% rise, government data released today, 12 October 2007, showed.

Capital goods stocks declined sharply in late trade. L&T; (down 4.49% to Rs 3,327.80), Bhel (down 3.77% to Rs 2,330) and Suzlon Energy (down 4.33% to Rs 1,701.05) edged lower. BSE Capital Good index was the major loser from the sectoral indices on BSE.

Realty stocks witnessed heavy selling. DLF (down 5.84% to Rs 865.95), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 3.45% to Rs 630.80) and Unitech (down 0.55% to Rs 340.60) edged lower. BSE Realty index was the second highest loser from sectoral indices on BSE.

Banking stocks lost ground as strong IIP data for August 2007 dashed hopes of a near term rate cut by RBI. ICICI Bank (down 3.18% to Rs 1,055), State Bank of India (down 4.35% to Rs 1,860) and HDFC Bank (down 1.84% to Rs 1,429.70) edged lower.

Auto stocks declined. Tata Motors (down 3.54% to Rs 801), Bajaj Auto (down 3.22% to Rs 2,535.50), Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.02% to Rs 1,097) edged lower.

Cipla declined 3.3% to Rs 184.75.

Reliance Energy (REL) rose 5.02% to Rs 1,678 and was the top gainer from Sensex pack. It hit an all-time high of 1,684.70 today.

Indias largest private company in terms of market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 2.39% to Rs 2,566.85. The stock came off sharply from higher level. It hit an all-time high of Rs 2,724 today. Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani today said the company will pursue organic and inorganic growth opportunities. The new Jamnagar refinery plant will be completed ahead of the scheduled time, and at half the capital cost at which international refineries are built, Ambani said while speaking at RIL's annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai.

Ambani also said RIL would raise its paraxylene capacity to 4.5 million tonne a year from 1.9 million tonne a year in two phases. The company is also looking at expanding its petrochemical businesses in other regions like Egypt and Russia, he said. Going ahead, the company would focus on new sectors like retail, infrastructure and agro-rural industry, Ambani said.

ONGC rose 4.46% to Rs 1,114. It hits an all-time high of Rs 1,118 today.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.37% to Rs 841.30) edged higher.

IT stocks declined further and they were major losers from Sensex pack. Strong rupee and possible US recession had hit the stocks since yesterday after Infosys had announced its Q2 September 2007 results before trading hours. Infosys (down 2.63% to Rs 1,921), Wipro (down 0.43% to Rs 486), Satyam Computer Services (down 3.56% to Rs 432), TCS (down 2.57% to Rs 1,044.30) edged lower.

Metal index was the lone gainer from sectoral indices on BSE. Tata Steel (up 2.58% to Rs 871.55) and Hindalco Industries (up 1.91% to Rs 179.20) edged higher.

European markets opened weak today. Frances CAC 40 (down 1.26% to 5,789.01), UKs FTSE 100 (down 0.76% to 6,672.60) and Germanys DAX (down 0.51% to 7,992.66) edged lower.

Asian markets, which opened before the Indian markets, were subdued today. Hong Kongs Hang Seng (down 1.01% to 28,838.37), Singapores Straits Times (down 0.48% to 3,857.25), Japan's Nikkei (down 0.73% at 17,331.17), South Koreas Seoul Composite (down 1.57% to 2,026.44), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 2.07% to 9,496.47) edged lower.

On Wall Street on Thursday, 11 October 2007, Chinese Internet company Baidu.com Inc. tumbled 10% after JPMorgan cut its third quarter revenue target, spurring concerns that the recent US tech rally may be coming to a close. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 39.41 or 1.4% at 2,772.20, while the blue-chip Dow which hit an intraday record high earlier, settled 63.57 points or 0.45% lower at 14,015.12.

As per data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on Thursday, 11 October 2007, equity schemes witnessed a net outflow of Rs 957 crore in September 2007. Equity schemes collected Rs 2282 crore in new fund offers (NFO) (this pertains to NFOs for which allotment was concluded in the month), in the month. Existing opened ended equity schemes witness