11:15AM New York – Employment report dragged U.S. averages lower in the morning trading.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to its lowest level to 202.50 to 12,857.30, Nasdaq declined 75.02 to 2,527.65, and S&P 500 lost 25.54 to 1,421.62.

The Labor Department report on new job creations hurt the sentiment in the first two hours of trading. The payroll in December increased 18,000. For the year 2007 the economy added 1.3 million jobs after adding 2.3 million in 2006. The monthly average fell to 111,000 in 2007 from 189,000 in 2006.

The number of unemployed persons increased by 474,000 to 7.7 million in December and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 5.0 percent. A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 6.8 million, and the jobless rate was 4.4 percent.

Both total employment, at 146.2 million, and the employment-population ratio, at 62.7 percent, decreased in December following increases in November. Total employment was essentially unchanged over the year, while the employment- population ratio declined by 0.7 percentage point over the same period.

Total nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged at 138.5 million in December following gains of 159,000 in October and 115,000 in November. In 2007, payroll employment rose by 1.3 million compared with a gain of 2.3 million in 2006.

The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index declined in December to 53.9 from 54.1 in November. The index still shows an expansion in the service sector but at a slower pace.

Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent, in December to $17.71, seasonally adjusted. This followed a 7-cent gain in November. Average weekly earnings also grew by 0.4 percent in December to $598.60. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 3.7 percent, and weekly earnings rose by 3.4 percent.

9:30AM New York, 8:00PM Mumbai - Sensex closed the week higher, inflation index edged higher.

India markets closed higher on Friday with the Bombay Stock Market benchmark index advancing 1.7% or 342 at 20,687. In the broader markets, Nifty held up in green by 1.6%. The 50-share index closed at 6,274.

Among advancers from the Sensex index were Larsen & Toubro, Hindalco Industries, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, ONGC and Reliance Communication with a rise of 2.9% more.

Of the National Stock Excahnge-50 stocks, Reliance Petroleum, Sterlite Industries, HDFC, Siemens India and Cairn India were some of the key gainers. The shares advanced over 2.5% each.

Among key draggers in the broader index were NTPC, Nalco, Sun Pharma, BPCL and Hero Honda Motors. The stocks slid 1.5% or more.

Buying was visible in metal stocks. Sterlite Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Shree Pre-coated Steels, Maharashtra Seamless and Jindal Steel & Power surged 1.6% or more.

Banking stocks also gained. On Friday Finance Minister P Chidambaram said PSU banks should slash deposit and lending rates by half a percent to spur investment and consumption so that the economy can sustain its current growth momentum.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab rose 0.7% or more.

Of the BSE stocks, 1470 shares declined, 1437 advanced, and 17 remained unchanged. Among the Sensex shares, 16 slid and the rest remained unchanged.

Turnover on the BSE stood at 10,960 crore rupees. Reliance group stocks dominated turnover charts on BSE. Reliance Petroleum recorded the highest turnover of 430.87 crore rupees followed by Reliance Natural Resources at 397.94 crore rupees, Reliance Industries at 271.34 crore rupees. Turnover on the NSE stood at 23,686 crore rupees.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets closed mixed with Hong Kong's Hang Seng surging 2.4% while South Korea's Kospi also gained ground. Japan's Nikkei plunged 4.03%, its first decline in ten year on the first trading day of a new year.

Inflation surged 3.5% at the end of last week December pushed by prices of manufactured and fuel items versus 3.45% at the end of previous week. The wholesale price index stood at 5.78% in the same period a year ago.