11:30AM The Dow rallied on gains for Altria and Boeing.
U.S. stocks extended Tuesday's rally on easing concerns about the health of the economy and gains for blue-chips Altria and Boeing. Solid gains in the airline sector on the back of an $8 billion acquisition bid also contributed to the market strength.

Altria (MO: chart) rose 1.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the tobacco giant to buy from neutral, citing optimism about the company's plans for its Kraft unit and improving international tobacco trends. Another Dow component, Boeing Co. (BA: chart) was up 1.5% on reports that the company may see $10 billion more in jet business in the near term. US Airways (LCC: chart) climbed 11.7% after launching an $8 billion bid for Delta Air Line. Following the news, other stocks in the airline sector moved higher. Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV: chart) added 4%, American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR: chart) rose 4.4%, while UAL Corp. (UAUA: chart) climbed 6.8%.

In other corporate news, RailAmerica Inc. (RRA: chart) jumped 27.6% after the short line railroad operator agreed to be acquired by Fortress Investment Group LLC, a hedge fund manager, for $1.1 billion, or $16.35 per share, including debt. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF: chart) dropped 3.8% after the company announced plans to spend through 2007 to remodel stores and overhaul its information-technology systems. Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL: chart) dropped 4.7% after the contract manufacturer, said it would restate its 2005 results following a review of stock options practices. In late morning trading Wednesday, the Dow was up 26.73, or 0.22%, at 12,244.74, moving further into record territory. The Dow set a new intraday high of 12,247.22. The S&P was up 3.83, or 0.27%, at 1,397.05, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 11.30, or 0.46%, at 2,441.96. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60% from 4.57% late Tuesday.


Crude oil inventories gained, while gasoline stockpiles declined.
Crude oil inventories rose in the most recent week, according to government statistics released Wednesday. This added to an advance posted in the previous couple weeks. Meanwhile, gasoline and distillate stockpiles dropped sharply, continuing their recent streaks of draw downs. The Department of Energy''s Energy Information Administration said that crude oil inventories rose 1.3 million barrels in the week ended November 10. Specifically, the measure climbed to 336.0 million barrels from the previous week''s level of 334.7 million barrels. This added to an advance of 400,000 barrels in the previous week and a gain of 2 million barrels in the week before that. Oil inventories for the November 10 week were 4.3% higher than last year. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories showed a week-over-week decline of 3.7 million barrels. The level of gasoline inventories was 1% below last year. The draw down during the week added to a slide of 600,000 barrels recorded during the previous period. Distillate fuel oil also had an inventory decline during the week ended November 10. Stockpiles of these products, which include heating oil, fell by 3.6 million barrels. This added to a decline of 2.7 million barrels in the previous week.


10:30AM Banks, cement shares helped the Sensex gain 44 points on Wednesday.
The Sensex on BSE advanced 43.87 points, or 0.33 %, to close at 13,469.37. The market was highly volatile. The BSE Sensex traded withing a range of 115.29 points for the day. The market-breadth was weak. As 1,509 shares declined on BSE, 1,035 advanced and 69 stocks were unchanged. For every 2 advancers, there were 3 decliners. From the Sensex stocks 17 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,088 crore, lower than Rs 5,151 crore on Tuesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 8,768.6 crore, higher than Rs 8,071.78 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

The bonds rose to their highest in six weeks on Tuesday as central bank dollar buying in the foreign exchange market in the last three sessions eased concerns about liquidity in the banking system.

The central bank of India announced that the recent decline in global crude oil prices should help ease inflation pressures in the economy and that the macroeconomic environment remained favourable.

Advancers

Banks led the advancers today. ICICI Bank gained nearly 3% to Rs 880. The stock hit Rs 888, an all-time high. ICICI Bank was also boosted by reports that RBI has permitted the largest private sector bank to open new branches and off-site ATMs. State Bank of India jumped 4.6% to Rs 1,179. The stock also struck a record high of Rs 1,184.40. The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said the recent fall in global crude oil prices should help ease inflation pressures.

Cement shares rose on firm cement prices. Gujarat Ambuja Cements gained 2% to Rs 138.05, UltraTech Cement added 1.4% to Rs 914.85, ACC rose 1.3% to Rs 1,021 and Grasim added 1.3% to Rs 2,708. Airlines advanced on reports of airlines gearing to raise airfares between 3 - 5%. Jet Airways rose 3.6% to Rs 656. Among low cost airlines, Deccan Aviation jumped 10% to Rs 119 and SpiceJet added nearly 5% to Rs 47.30. Ranbaxy Labs advanced 1.0% to Rs 405.25, after a favorable ruling by a US court for marketing Simvastatin tablets.

Bharti Airtel gained nearly 2% to Rs 580.95. The stock struck Rs 582.50, an all-time high. It has replaced TCS as the fifth largest company in terms of market-cap today. Software major Infosys Technologies also gained in volatile trade. The stock rose 0.7% to Rs 2,227. On Tuesday, its ADR rose 2.4% to $56.50. Glenmark Pharma jumped nearly 15% to Rs 584.35, extending its recent solid surge in spite of the mixed trend in pharma stocks.

Decliners

Hindustan Lever led the decliners, shedding 1.8% to Rs 243.30. A large block deal of 10 lakh shares was executed in the stock at Rs 243.80 per share, on BSE.

Reliance Industries lost 1.3% to Rs 1,260. Motital Oswal Securities has downgraded the stock. It is the second brokerage after Kotak Securities to downgrade it, on stretched valuation.

Arvind Mills declined 1.2% to Rs 54.30. The National Stock Exchange has barred fresh foreign funds positions in the derivatives segment in Arvind Mills as such positions in the stock have crossed 95% of the market wide position limit.

Another decliner was i-flex solutions down 0.4%, at Rs 1,520. Financial Services stated on Tuesday, it will now offer Flexcube, the core banking solution from i-flex, as a hosted offering to community banks in the United States. Despite Glenmark Pharma advance of 11%, other pharma stocks declined as Dr Reddy''''s and Dabur Pharma sank 1% each.