BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high in mid-afternoon trade. The market had recovered in the mid-morning trade from an initial slump. Reliance Industries advanced. IT, consumer durables, healthcare and metal stocks declined. Realty, banking and FMCG stocks rose. The market breadth was strong.

European markets which opened after Indian market were trading firm. Asian markets which opened before Indian market were trading weak. US stocks tumbled on Friday, 4 January 2008, as a sharp rise in US unemployment rate in December 2007, heightened fears the US economy is heading into a recession.

At 14:23 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 132.95 points or 0.64% to 20,819.30. Sensex hit all-time high of 20,859.02 in mid-afternoon trade. At day's high, Sensex gained 172.13 points. Sensex had hit a low of 20,438.19 at the onset of the trading session. At day's low, Sensex had declined 248 points.

The broader CNX S&P; Nifty was up 4.25 points or 0.07% to 6,278.55.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.17% to 10,129.18. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.19% to 14,049.31.

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1645 shares advancing as compared to 1248 that declined. 25 remained unchanged. 19 out of 30 shares from the Sensex pack were in the red.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 1.18% to Rs 3,021.

Reliance Energy rose 1.54% to Rs 2548.90 on reports that Reliance Power, in which it holds 50% stake, is reportedly planning to tap the inorganic route and explore possibilities of taking over existing government power projects, including Ratnagiri Gas and Power plant at Dabhol, to scale up its generation capacity.

Consumer durables stocks declined. Videocon Industries (down 4.01% to Rs 734) and Blue Star (down 2.76% to Rs 520.05) edged lower. Rajesh Exports rose 2.73% to Rs 908.

IT stock slipped as weaker-than-expected job growth in United States in December 2007 sparked worries that the US economy may head towards recession. Infosys (down 3.53% to Rs 1,635.05), Wipro (down 2.39% to Rs 485), Tata Consultancy Services (down 2.63% to Rs 978.70), Indian IT companies derive more than half of their revenues from the US market.

Indias fourth largest software service provider by sales Satyam Computer Services declined 1.23% to Rs 417.05. Satyam today said it had entered into a tie-up with Greenplum, a leading provider of database software for business intelligence, to combine Satyam's reach and expertise in delivering business intelligence (BI) solutions with Greenplum's innovative database software.

Healthcare stocks declined. Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 0.63% to Rs 423.45), Cipla (down 0.24% to Rs 212.20) and Dr. Reddys Laboratories (down 1.88% to Rs 714.90) edged lower.

Metal stocks also drifted lower. Tata Steel (down 0.12% to Rs 929), Steel Authority of India (down 0.89% to Rs 271.70), Sterlite Industries (down 1.28% to Rs 1,045.90), Hindalco Industries (down 1.39% to Rs 216.90) edged higher. National Aluminium Company rose 2.56% to Rs 532.10.

Realty stocks gained. Indiabulls Real Estate (up 6.76% to Rs 818), DLF (up 1.86% to Rs 1,133.15), Unitech (up 1.98% to Rs 531.15) edged higher.

Parsvnath Developers surged 6.77% to Rs 564.90 after the company said during the market hours it had bagged a Rs 90 crore contract to build Sai Ashram at Shirdi.

Banking stocks rose. ICICI Bank (up 6.04% to Rs 1,363) and State Bank of India (up 0.81% to Rs 2,410.05) edged higher. Indias second largest private sector bank in terms of net profit HDFC Bank declined 2.04% to Rs 1,662.90. As per reports, the mandatory licensing requirement for Indian banks to open branches may be done away with. The department of financial services is taking up the matter with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as banks are no more shying away from opening branches in semi-urban and rural areas.

FMCG stocks rose. ITC (up 4.87% to Rs 230.25), Nestle India (up 2.8% to Rs 1,501), REI Agro (up 2.72% to Rs 920), Hindustan Unilever (up 2.96% to Rs 238.25) edged higher.

India's second biggest listed telecommunication services provider by sales Reliance Communications rose 3.41% to Rs 785.95.

Indias largest oil exploration firm by revenue ONGC declined 3.06% to Rs 1,302.65. Grasim Industries slumped 2.06% to Rs 3,521.

India's largest engineering & construction firm in terms of revenue, Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T;) rose 1.47% to Rs 4,306.95 on securing two major contracts from Cairn India for the construction of civil works and the consolidated construction works of Cairn's project located near Barmer in Rajasthan.

Parenteral Drugs India hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 186.65 after the company said its board will meet on 14 January 2008 to discuss the financial and other implications of the expansion programme that it has undertaken for its manufacturing facilities at the existing locations.

European markes opened firm. Germanys DAX (up 0.25% to 7,827.86) and UKs FTSE 100 (up 0.09% to 6,354.30) edged higher.

In Asia, key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were down by between 1.24% to 4.11%. However, China's Shanghai Composite index was up 0.59%.

US stocks tumbled on Friday, 4 January 2008, dragging the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its worst three-day start to a year since the Great Depression, due to fears the economy was heading into a recession. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 256.54 points, or 1.96%, at 12,800.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 35.53 points, or 2.46%, at 1,411.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 98.03 points, or 3.77%, at 2,504.65.

A US recession may not impact Indias economic growth in a big way given that domestic demand is a key driver of the Indian economy. India's economy is expected to post strong growth for a long period due to favourable demographics. Economists also reckon that a healthy investment cycle will continue to support growth through a self-perpetuating cycle of income creation, savings and investment.

Though the Indian economy may be relatively insulated from the US recession, any risk aversion globally causing setback in global markets, may cast its shadow on the Indian bourses. However, with expectations of good Q3 December 2007 results from the corporate sector, any sharp fall may attract buying.

As per provisional data, FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 16.01 crore on Friday, 4 January 2008. Domestic funds bought shares worth Rs 506.85 crore on that day.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs 1500.16 crore in the futures & options segment of NSE on Friday. FIIs bought index futures worth a net Rs 1071.99 crore. They bought index options worth Rs 685.44 crore. FIIs were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 257.03 crore.

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