The market remained range bound after bouncing back from its lows in mid-afternoon trade. 21 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack advanced. The market had earlier slumped in volatile trade. Though the market breadth was still negative, it improved substantially compared to a weak breadth in mid-morning trade. FMCG, realty, healthcare and consumer durable stocks gained. Banking and capital goods stocks remained subdued. Reliance Industries edged lower. BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices underperformed Sensex.

European markets which opened after Indian markets were in positive zone in early trade. Asian markets were trading mixed today, 18 December 2007. US stocks tumbled on Monday, 17 December 2007, on concerns about the US economy, amid signs of rising inflation and weakness in holiday shopping.

At 14:22 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 13.85 points or 0.05% to 19,252.48. It had hit a low of 19,048.78 in mid-morning trade. At days low Sensex lost 212.57 points. It hit a high of 19,375.07 in early trade. At its days high Sensex had gained 113.72 points.

The S&P; CNX Nifty rose 15.85 points or 0.27% to 5,792.85.

Market breadth was negative. On BSE, 1,281 stocks advanced, 1,562 stocks declined and 29 stocks remained unchanged. 21 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack advanced.

BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.13% to 9,117.59. BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.11% to 11,852.91. Both these indices outperformed Sensex.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalization & oil refiner Reliance Industries declined 0.27% to Rs 2,770. The stock recovered from session's low of Rs 2,750. As per reports, Reliance Industries (RIL) has paid advance tax of Rs 1045 crore in the third quarter ended 15 December 2007 compared to Rs 440 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Reliance Communications (RCom) rose 0.79% to Rs 722.60. As per reports it will invest Rs 800 crore to roll out a telecom network fixed and mobile in Uganda, a country in Eastern Africa. The company has bagged a licence to be the African nations sixth telecom operator. The company plans to launch services in Uganda by Q3 in 2008, the report added.

Realty stocks rose. Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.88% to Rs 692.05) and DLF (up 2.5% to Rs 967.90) edged higher. Unitech (down 0.3% to Rs 463.95) edged lower.

FMCG majors rose. ITC (up 1.89% to Rs 197.20), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.8% to 220.35), and Tata Tea (up 1.79% to Rs 885) edged higher.

Consumer durables stocks rose. Videocon industries (up 0.46% to Rs 619), Lloyd Electric (up 1.19% to Rs 174) and Titan Industries (up 4.29% to Rs 1,449.90) edged higher.

Healthcare stocks rose. Sun Pharmaceuticals (up 4.22% to Rs 1,140), Cipla (up 3.75% to Rs 215.70), Dr. Reddys Laboratories (up 0.73% to Rs 722), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 0.51% to Rs 407.80), edged higher.

Capital goods stocks declined. Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 1.21% to Rs 2,396) and Larsen & Toubro (down 2.26% to Rs 3,989.90) edged lower. Suzlon Energy (up 1.96% to Rs 1,864) edged higher.

Banking stocks were mixed. ICICI Bank (down 0.94% to Rs 1,156) edged lower whereas HDFC Bank (up 0.4% to Rs 1,685) edged higher.

State Bank of India rose 0.37% to Rs 2,322. State Bank of India (SBI) shelled out Rs 1090 crore, up 26.7% over the tax it paid in the corresponding period in the previous year.

Bharti Airtel (up 1.35% to Rs 917) and NTPC (up 2.47% to Rs 234.25) edged higher.

HDFC (down 2% to Rs 2,820) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.47% to Rs 770) edged lower.

Century Plyboards India rose 2.47% to Rs 780 after its board decided to split the shares of the company from the face value of Rs 10 to Rs 1.

National Mineral Development Corporation hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 10,316.25 after the company said its board will meet on 27 December 2007, to consider issue of bonus shares and stock split.

European markets opened higher today. Germanys DAX (up 0.1% to 7,833.02) and UKs FTSE 100 (up 0.5% to 6,311.30) edged higher.

Asian markets were mixed today, 18 December 2007. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 0.51% at 26,732.87), South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 1.2% at 1,861.45), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.16% at 3,358.90) edged higher. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.3% at 7,807.39), Shanghai Composite (down 0.83% to 4,836.17) and Japan's Nikkei (down 0.27% to 15,207.86) declined.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 172.65 points, or 1.29%, to end at 13,167.20, on Monday, 17 December 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 22.05 points, or 1.50%, to 1,445.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 61.28 points, or 2.32%, to 2,574.46.

US government reports last week showed rising price pressures in November 2007, while concerns about the housing slump intensified after news that sentiment among US home builders held at a record low for a third consecutive month in December 2007.

As per provisional data, FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 2151.21 crore on Monday, 17 December 2007. Domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 226.86 on that day.

FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,196.83 crore in the futures & options segment on Monday, 17 December 2007. According to data released by the NSE, FIIs were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 2,042.39 crore and bought index options worth Rs 355.82 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 509.24 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 1.01 crore on that day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 769.48 points or 3.84% to 19,261.35 on Monday, 17 December 2007, tracking weak global equities.

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 six trading sessions are left for expiry of December 2007 derivatives contracts.

Meanwhile, the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday, 17 December 2007, put out a note on the proposed plan to introduce new products in the derivatives segment on its website to seek comments/suggestions from market participants on or before 21 December, 2007.

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