The market edged lower today, dragged by decline in IT, cement stocks and in select index heavyweights. The CNX S&P; Nifty struck all-time high today. The BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap index struck record highs. Total turnover on BSE crossed Rs 10,500 crore mark. Among the Sensex pack, 24 declined while the rest gained. Asian and European markets were trading lower today, 3 January 2008.

The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 120.10 points or 0.59% lower at 20,345.20. The market had opened on a weak note dampened by weak global markets but it had shortly staged a rebound from lower level. It lost ground once again in afternoon trade.

Sensex hit a low of 20,293.87 in mid-afternoon trade. At the days low, the Sensex lost 171.43 points. Sensex had hit a high of 20,519.70 in mid-morning trade. At day's high, Sensex rose 54.40 points. It witnessed intra-day swing of 225.83 points today. Sensex had hit a record high of 20,529.48 in late trade yesterday, 2 January 2008.

The fall in Nifty was much lower than the fall in the 30-share BSE Sensex today. It declined marginally by 0.85 points or 0.01% to 6178.55. Nifty struck all-time high of 6230.15 today, 3 January 2008.

Nifty January 2008 futures settled at 6175.30, a discount of 3.25 points as compared to spot closing

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 10,785 crore as compared to Rs 11,060.45 crore yesterday, 2 January 2008

NSEs futures & options turnover was Rs 70651.63 crore as compared to Rs 74186.47 crore yesterday, 2 January 2008

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1677 shares advancing as compared to 1199 that declined. 25 remained unchanged

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.02% to 10,056.87 while the BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.09% to 13,896.71. Both these indices outperformed Sensex. BSE Mid-Cap index struck all-time high of 10,151.78 and the BSE Small-Cap index hit all-time high of 14,092.31 today.

Majority of sectoral indices on BSE declined. BSE Realty (down 1.30% to 13,246.26), BSE Health Care index (down 1.57% at 4,397.12), BSE FMCG Index (down 0.70% at 2,380.01), BSE Metal index (down 0.81% at 19,995.11), BSE Consumer Durables index (down 1.94% to 6,765.09), Bankex (down 1.68% to 11,670.48), BSE TecK index (down 1.44% to 3,903.74), BSE Capital Goods index (down 0.90% at 19,530.20), BSE IT index (down 1.96% to 4,363.63), underperformed the Sensex.

BSE PSU index (up 2.20% to 11,010.92), BSE Oil and Gas index (up 1.58% at 13,602.26), BSE Power Index (up 3.17% at 4,806.12), BSE Auto index (down 0.55% at 5,729.57), outperformed the Sensex.

Cement stocks declined on selling pressure after the Tamil Nadu state government on Wednesday warned cement companies that it would take over all cement factories in the state in the public interest if cement makers did not lower prices. Diversified company Grasim was the top loser from Sensex pack The stock lost 3.97% to Rs 3606.

ACC lost 1.80% to Rs 1004 after it posted 5.98% decline in cement dispatches to 1.57 million tonnes in December 2007 over December 2006. India Cements (down 2.93% to Rs 298) and Ambuja Cements (down 1.65% to Rs 146), wer4e the other losers.

Shares from oil drilling and exploration sector surged on the back of rally in crude price. India's biggest oil exploration company in terms of market capitalisation Oil & Natural Gas Corporation jumped 3.93% to Rs 1319.45 on 4.39 lakh shares.

Cairn India (up 4.79% to Rs 254.95), Selan Exploration Technology (up 20% to Rs 219.80), Asian Oilfield Services (up 5% to Rs 385.70), Jindal Drilling & Industries (up 2.48% to Rs 1521), and Aban Offshore (up 0.52% to Rs 5100.15), surged.

IT pivotals extended their recent fall. TCS (down 2.91% to Rs 1018.35), Wipro (down 2.90% to Rs 496.25), Satyam Computers (down 2.52% to Rs 425.50), and Infosys Technologies (down 1.95% to Rs 1715.20), also edged lower

Indias largest private sector bank in terms of net profit ICICI Bank lost 2.87% to Rs 1230.

Indias largest power generation company in terms of net profit, National Thermal Power Corporation surged 6.78% to Rs 274.70 on 65.24 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack.

Indias largest private sector power utility company in terms of net profit, Reliance Energy (REL) surged 6.13% to Rs 2513.40. The stock hit all-time high of Rs 2585 in late trade. As per reports, Reliance Power in which REL holds 50% stake, plans to raise as much as $3 billion in the nation's biggest initial public offering. Reliance Power, the power generating unit of REL will sell 26 crore shares at a price band of Rs 405 to Rs 450 per share.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalization & oil refiner Reliance Industries advanced 1.23% to Rs 2898. The stock recovered from early low of Rs 2831.10. A total of 6.07 lakh shares were traded on the counter on BSE

Oil marketing companies gained after petroleum Minister Murli Deora today, 3 January 2007 said fuel price hike was not the only solution for reducing the losses faced by public sector oil firms and the government will consider other options like excise duty cut. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 6.81% to Rs 399.70), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 4.29% to Rs 538), and Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.11% to Rs 780.40), rose.

Among the side counters, Kinetic Engineering (up 20% to Rs 203.50), Forbes Gokak (up 20% to Rs 796.05), Pearl Fashions (up 20% to Rs 348.45), and Krone Communications (up 20% to Rs 265.70), surged

Era Constructions (down 10% to Rs 734.60), Atlas Copco (down 7.86% to Rs 1565), and Rallis India (down 7.20% to Rs 605.05), slipped

Reliance Natural Resources was the top traded counter on BSE was the most active counter with a turnover of Rs 521.85 crore followed by Burnpur Cement (Rs 462.58 crore), Reliance Energy (Rs 395.39 crore), BGR Energy (Rs 393.70 crore) and Reliance Petroleum (Rs 313.68 crore).

Burnpur Cement was volume topper on BSE with total vlumes of 11.72 crore shares followed by GV Films (3.16 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (2.58 crore shares), Reliance Petroleum (1.34 crore shares) and Ispat Industries (1.09 crore shares).

BGR Energy Systems settled at Rs 901.30 , a premium of 87.77% over the IPO price of Rs 480. The stock debuted at Rs 801, a premium of 66.87% over the IPO price. It touched a high of Rs 940 and a low of Rs 801 during the day. On BSE, 43.74 lakh shares were traded on the counter.

Burnpur Cement settled at Rs 46.35 on BSE, a premium of 286.25% over the IPO price of Rs 12. The stock debuted at Rs 18.45, a premium of 53.75% over the IPO price. It touched a high of Rs 49 and a low of Rs 17.80 for the day. On BSE, 11.72 crore shares were traded on the counter.

Parsvnath Developers rose 3.26% to Rs 489.95 after its subsidiary, Parsvnath SEZ, will develop a pharmaceutical special economic zone (SEZ) at Nanded in Maharashtra.

Tulip IT Services rose 2.16% to Rs 1105.15 after it bagged an order worth Rs 57.72 crore for the Assam State Wide Area Network project.

Alembic gained 0.15% Rs 97.55 after the company said it has acquired an active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing unit in Gujarat from Nirayu. .

Nelcast was down 1.60% Rs 183.10. It bagged orders worth Rs 40 crore from European manufacturer for supply of components for heavy commercial vehicles.

Supreme Infrastructure India slipped 0.93% Rs 180.30. The company said it has bagged an order worth Rs 71.99 crore from the municipal corporation of Thane city for constructing a building.

Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineers gained 1.40% Rs 563 on bagging an order worth Rs 81 crore from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for installation and commissioning of active field control system in 19 stations.

Steel Exchange India declined 5% to Rs 159.95. Its board approved issue of 47.9 lakh share warrants to Umashiv Garments, a promoter group, on preferential basis.

Among European markets, Germany's DAX (down 0.77% to 7,887.59), UK's FTSE 100 (down 0.31% to 6,396.50) and France's CAC 40 (down 0.46% t