The market slumped for a fifth trading session in a row today in a broad-based decline. Reliance Industries (RIL), ICICI Bank and DLF, plunged. All the sectoral indices on BSE were in the red. BSE oil & gas and realty indices were the worst hit in today's fall. Small-caps and mid-cap stocks sank. Ranbaxy Laboratories was the star performer in todays trade. Cement pivotals, too, survived the fall.

The market breadth was weak. 25 out of 30 shares from the Sensex pack were in the red. Asian markets came off lower level during the course of the trading session, from early fall. European markets, which opened after Indian markets, were weak in early trade.

Annual inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), moved up 3.79% in the week ended 5 January 2008 compared with 3.5% in the week ended 29 December 2007.

Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Friday, 18 January 2008 that any rise in retail prices of petrol and diesel would be minimal. The Group of Ministers (GoM) on fuel prices would meet again on Saturday, 19 January 2008 to discuss the fuel price hike. A meeting of Indian ministers, which was expected to recommend a rise in retail prices of petrol and diesel, ended on Thursday, 17 January 2008 without a decision.

The 30-share BSE Sensex provisionally ended down 705.76 points or 3.58% to 18995.06.

Sensex opened with a negative gap of 121.21 points. Soon, by early afternoon the market managed to enter the positive territory and gain 14.96 points at the day's high of 19,715.78. But relentless selling pressure in the index heavyweights pulled the index down and the Sensex shed 770.40 points at day's low of 18,930.42 at the fag end of the trading session.

The broader CNX S&P; Nifty provisionally ended down 211.20 points or 3.57% to 5702.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 4.94% to 8,878.82. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 4.82% to 12,126.49.

The market breadth was weak. On BSE, 2498 shares declined as compared to 368 that rose. 24 remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 8753 crore compared to Thursday (17 January 2007)'s Rs 8,471.87 crore.

Indiaa largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries fell 6.57% to Rs 2799.

Indias largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank fell 5.78% to Rs 1245.45.

Among the other Sensex losers, DLF slumped 7.37% to Rs 1005.75, NTPC slipped 6.30% to Rs 239.55, HDFC Bank fell 4.33% to Rs 1575.85, Mahindra & Mahindra dropped 3.19% to Rs 728.40, and Reliance Communications fell 3.73% to Rs 702.15.

Among the Sensex gainers, Ranbaxy Laboratories soared 5.10% to Rs 386.65, Grasim Industries advanced 1.03% to Rs 3340.70, Ambuja Cements rose 0.88% to Rs 131.95, ACC gained 0.48% to Rs 864.60, Bharti Airtel moved up 0.24% to Rs 973.90, and Satyam Computers rose 0.04% to Rs 372.60.

In Europe, key indices in UK, France and Germany were down by 0.28% to 0.42%.

Asian markets reversed early losses on growing hopes for measures to boost the US economy from President George W. Bush. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea were up 0.35% to 1.02%. Bush told lawmakers on Thursday, 17 January 2008, he wants tax rebates for families and breaks for businesses to boost the struggling US economy.

US stocks fell sharply on Thursday, 17 January 2008, as news of a plunge in regional factory activity and a hefty loss at Merrill Lynch further clouded an increasingly dire view of the US economy. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 306.95 points, or 2.46%, to close at 12,159.21, on Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 39.95 points, or 2.91%, at 1,333.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 47.69 points, or 1.99%, at 2,346.90.

In one of the strongest signals yet that the economy is at high risk of contracting, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said mid-Atlantic factory activity has slowed much more than expected to levels that typically signal recession.

FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 2267.40 crore on Thursday, the day when Sensex lost 167 points. Domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 734.75 crore on that day.

FIIs were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 611.60 crore on Thursday. They net bought index options worth Rs 279.71 crore. FIIs sold individual stock futures to the tune of Rs 1220.25 crore on that day.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday, 17 January 2008 proposed a price band for stocks on their market debut to curb sharp swings. The Sebi suggested a 25% price band on the day of listing for initial public offerings of up to Rs 250 crore.

A unit of rating agency Moody's said on Thursday, 17 January 2008 suggested that India's economy should expand 8% in 2008, slower than 8.8% last year, as tight monetary conditions dampen loan demand and creaky infrastructure hobbles growth.

A deep recession in developed economies will have an adverse impact on the Indian economy, C. Rangarajan the chairman of the prime minister's Economic Advisory Council said in a news conference on Thursday, 18 January 2008.

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