The market continued to be firm in mid-morning trade. It opened strong today tracking firmn global markets. Consumer durable, banking, realty and metal stocks gained. Reliance Industries rose. Market breadth was strong. All the sectoral indices on BSE were in green. BSE Mid-Cap and BSE Small-Cap indices outperformed Sensex. Most of the Asian indices edged higher today, 19 December 2007. US stocks rose on Tuesday, 18 December 2007

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth can be scaled to 10% by 2012 with the right set of policies, but the subprime crisis in the US might impact exports and capital flows, prime minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday, 19 December 2007, at a meeting of state chiefs and other top policymakers.

At 11:19 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 253.44 points or 1.36% to 19,337.32. Sensex hit a high of 19,397.76 in early trade, a gain of 318.12 points.

The broader CNX S&P; Nifty was up 78.75 points or 1.37% to 5,821.05.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 2.59% to 9,329.72. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 3.24% to 12,201.07. Both these indices outperformed Sensex.

The market breadth was strong. On BSE, 2,386 shares advanced as compared to 344 that declined. 38 shares were unchanged.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalization & oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 1.16% to Rs 2760.55.

Reliance Energy (REL) rose 5.14% to Rs 1,901. The company is reportedly planning to foray into Africa. It is believed to be in talks with the governments of Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia for setting up generation capacities of over 1,000 megawatt (MW). The companys African Safari will be followed by a bid for a 1,200 MW greenfield project at Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, the reports added.

Metal stocks rose. National aluminium company (up 3.92% to Rs 431) , Tata Steel (up 2.47% to Rs 836.50),Sterlite Industries (up 1.49% to Rs 973.25), Steel Authority of India (up 2% to Rs 264.80) Hindalco Industries (up 1.4% to Rs 202.50) edged higher.

Consumer Durable stocks rose. Rajesh Exports (up 2.65% to Rs 921.05),Videocon Industries (up 3% to Rs 640), Titan Industries (up 4.13% to Rs 1,520) edged higher.

Banking stocks rose. ICICI Bank (up 2.41% to Rs 1,168.10), HDFC Bank (up 0.86% to Rs 1,671.15) and State Bank of India (up 0.64% to Rs 2,318.90) edged higher.

Realty stocks gained. Ansal Properties & Infrastructure (up 5.02% to Rs 394), DLF (up 2.02% to Rs 968), Unitech (up 1.75% to Rs 463.50) , Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.43% to Rs 697) edged higher.

Elder Pharmaceuticals rose 1.58% to Rs 421.50. The company has entered into a licensing agreement with an Italy based research oriented biotech company by the name Gnosis S.p.A. for marketing and distribution of an anti-arthritic product, S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine Disulphate p-Toluensulfonate (SAMe) in India.

Jagran Prakashan rose 3.92% to Rs 744.95. The company today said it has entered into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) in the print space with Netwotk18. The primary mandate of this JV is to launch a Hindi language business daily in 2008. Network 18 rose 4.86% to Rs 65.80.

Global Broadcast News rose 4.5% to Rs 1,000 after the company said its board will consider stock split in a meeting to be held today, 19 December 2007.

Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) rose 1.91% to Rs 621.25. The company today said it is constructing a new TGN Eurasia cable system linking Mumbai directly to Paris, London and Madrid via Egypt. The new cable system is being built in partnership with Seacom and Telecom Egypt (TE), and will provide VSNL with 1.28 terabit of new capacity on this route during 2009.

Dr. Reddys Laboratories declined 0.76% to Rs 711.10. ICICI Venture Funds and Citigroup Venture Capital are likely to pull out their investment in Dr. Reddys Laboratories drug research company, Perlecan Pharma, on concerns over the commercial viability of its experimental drugs. The two investors have reportedly begun talks with Dr Reddys to sell their stake for their initial investment of $26 million plus interest.

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 93.05. It owns about 800 acres in and around Mumbai, is reportedly planning to develop a commercial complex over about 2 lakh square feet that will be used partially for in-house purposes while the rest will be sold commercially.

Kopran hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 40.45. The promoters and Clearwater Capital Partners of Cyprus, who together hold 44% equity in Kopran, are believed to be in talks with another Mumbai-based unlisted pharma company Maneesh Pharmaceuticals, to sell their stake. Promoters hold 29% stake, Clearwater holds around 14.64%. IDBI and Axis Bank (formerly UTI Bank) hold around 3% and 4% respectively in Kopran.

Indian Oil Corporation rose 2.2% to Rs 656. It has reprotedly spend as much as $3 billion to buy an overseas oil producer to meet rising demand in the country. The acquisition may be made jointly with Oil India, the reports added.

Jyothy Laboratories was trading Rs 802 on BSE, a premium of 16.23% over the IPO price of Rs 690 on its debut today. The company had priced the IPO at the top end of the Rs 620-690 price band.

State-run lender IFCI rose 4.15% to Rs 105.30. The company said on Tuesday, 18 December 2007, its board has approved issuing 123.7 million shares at Rs 107 each to public sector banks and financial institutions. The shares are being issued on conversion of zero coupon optionally convertible debentures held by the banks and institutions, it said in a statement.

Royal Orchid Hotels rose 6.52% to Rs 154.40. The company said on Tuesday it has acquired a 30-acre property in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, through a buyout of its holding company Multi Hotels. It did not give any financial details. Royal Orchid said it plans to invest $25 million in developing the property.

Most of the Asian indices edged higher today, 19 December 2007, tracking overnight gain in US stocks. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kongs Heng Seng (up 0.9% to 26,974.67), Taiwans Taiwan Weighted (up 2.58% to 8,009.09) edged higher. Japans Nikkei 225 declined 0.34% to 15,156.19.

US stocks rose on Tuesday, 18 December 2007, as investors bought beaten-down shares of technology heavyweights such as IBM and Microsoft Corp on hopes that the tech sector would weather the impact of the credit crisis. An upbeat profit forecast from design software maker Adobe Systems Inc lifted optimism in the tech sector, a day after the Nasdaq slid more than 2%.

The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 65.27 points, or 0.50%, to 13,232.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 9.08 points, or 0.63%, to close at 1,454.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 21.57 points, or 0.84%, at 2,596.03, snapping a three-day losing streak.

Wall Street gains were also helped by optimism on an easing of the subprime credit crunch after a cash injection by the European Central Bank as part of the effort by global central banks to shore up credit markets.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 2736.48 crore on Tuesday. Domestic institutions bought shares worth a net Rs 659.15 crore on that day.

FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,077.36 crore in the futures & options segment on Tuesday. According to data released by the NSE, FIIs were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 1,080.14 crore and bought index options worth Rs 749.07 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 746.30 crore.

Fall in index heavyweights pulled Sensex down 181.71 points or 0.94% to 19,079.64, on Tuesday 18 December 2007.

Volatility may remain high in the near term ahead of expiry of December 2007 derivatives contracts next Thursday, 27 December 2007. The market remains closed on Friday, 21 December 2007 on account of Bakri Id and also on Tuesday, 25 December 2007 on account of Christmas. Therefore, only five trading sessions are left for expiry of December 2