Tata Motors slipped 0.10% to Rs 828.40, after surging to a high of Rs 845. Its October total sales rose 5.6% to 43,540 units from 41,219 units. October CV sales rose 18.6% to 23,354 units (19,700 units) while October passenger car exports declined to 3,460 units from 4,433 units in the previous year.

Ashok Leyland declined 0.57% to Rs 43.50 and truck maker Eicher Motors lost 1.48% to Rs 362 after its October commercial vehicle sales in India rose 19% to 2,399 vehicles from the year ago.

Sakthi Sugars slipped 0.57% to Rs 131 after it acquired the entire capital of Chennai-based, unlisted Tilan Sugar for Rs 5 crore.

Economic news

The Delhi High Court today restrained Bharar Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) from awarding any contract for its GSM network expansion till the next hearing on November 16.

India junior oil minister, Dinsha Patel, said on Thursday that in return, ONGC has offered Hydro a holding in its two exploration blocks in Cuba.

Presenting the first ever UK Trade and Investment India Business Awards here Wednesday night, Duke of York Prince Andrew lauded the significant expansion in Indo-British economic ties in the past two years, stating that UK is a key market for India. UK provides ready access to the EU which now has a population of almost 500 million and the UK is the top destination for Indian investment into Europe.


9:45AM Market opened lower on mixed retail sales and weak data.
U.S. stock markets opened in the negative on Thursday, reflecting disappointing retail sales and weak economic data which raised concerns about the outlook for corporate profits. The Labor Department said that productivity was flat in Q3, while wages rose by 3.8%.

Retailers showed mixed sales performance in October, with Wal-Mart being one of the biggest disappointments. According to the Conference Board, consumers'' confidence weakened in October, dragged down by consumers’ concerns about the job market. Dow component Wal-Mart (WMT: chart), the world''s largest retailer, which is struggling with its merchandising strategy, reported a meager 0.5% rise in same-store sales. It also predicted flat same-store sales in November. Costco Wholesale (COST: chart) said October same-store sales rose 4%, below analyst estimates of a 4.6% increase. Discount retailer Target (TGT: chart) reported same-store sales growth of 3.9% that fell below expectations of 4.2%. Another disappointment was Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF: chart) which said same-store sales fell 3% vs. expectations of a 2% rise.

Winners included department stores and some apparel specialty stores. Federated (FD: chart) posted a 7.7% gain in same-store sales, beating the 6.2% estimate. Federated expects same-store sales to increase by 3% to 5% in November. J.C. Penney (JCP: chart) had a same-store sales increase of 8.1%, beating the 6.2% estimate. Limited Brands (LTD: chart) posted a stronger-than-forecast 9% same-store sales rise.

Teen retailers had a mixed performance. Pacific Sunwear (PSUN: chart) posted a 7.1% drop in same-store sales, worse than the 5.4% decline expected by analysts. But Bebe Stores Inc. (BEBE: chart) had an 8.2% gain in same-store sales, slightly below the 8.3% estimate. American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEOS: chart) reported a same-store sales increase of 8 %. But Hot Topic Inc. (HOTT: chart), posted a 7.2% decline in same-store sales, worse than the 5.7% decline expected. In midmorning trading, the Dow fell below the 12,000 benchmark and was down 38.90, or 0.32%, at 11,992.12. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 3.65, or 0.27%, at 1,364.16, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 6.90, or 0.30%, at 2,327.45. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60% from 4.57% late Thursday.

Initial jobless claims rose more than expected.
The Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended October 28 on Thursday, showing that jobless claims rose by much more than economists had been expecting. The report may raise some concerns about the October employment report. The report showed that jobless claims rose to 327,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 309,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 310,000 compared to the 308,000 originally reported for the previous week. The Labor Department also said that the less volatile 4-week moving average rose to 311,250 from the previous week''s revised average of 305,500. The report also showed that continuing claims in the week ended October 21 fell to 2.415 million from the preceding week''s revised level of 2.442 million. The Labor Department is due to release its report on employment in the month of October on Friday, with economists expecting an increase of about 125,000 jobs.

Productivity gained 0.1% in the third quarter.
Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its preliminary report on labor productivity in the third quarter. The report showed that productivity unexpected came in unchanged compared to the previous quarter. The Labor Department said that productivity in the non-farm business sector was unchanged in the third quarter following a downwardly revised 1.2 percent increase in the second quarter. Economists had expected 1.1 percent growth compared to the 1.6 percent growth originally reported for the second quarter. The lack of productivity growth in the third quarter came as output and hours both increased 1.6 percent. The increase in output came after a 2.7 percent increase in the second quarter, while hours increased by 1.5 percent in the second quarter. The Labor Department noted that the increase in hours in the third quarter reflected 0.8 percent gains in both employment and average weekly hours at work. The report also showed that unit labor costs in the non-farm business sector rose 3.8 percent in the third quarter following an upwardly revised 5.4 percent increase in the second quarter.


9:30AM The FTSE recovered from early losses on Unilever, pharma stocks.
The FTSE 100 in London bounced back from its early losses to trade just 0.6 points lower at 6,149.0.

Advancers

Unilever led the advancers with a gain of 4.5%. The company said it would replace pay a 750 million euros special dividend this year, replacing the 500 million euros share buyback planned for 2006, and it also unveiled plans for a further 1.5 billion euros share buyback in 2007.

Astrazeneca added 1.6%. GlaxoSmithKline, up 2.2%, also benefited from a JP Morgan upgraded to neutral from underweight. GlaxoSmithKline and Astrazeneca gained following a report from a healthcare information company which showed global pharmaceutical sales rose 5% in the 12 months to August. Both companies have underperformed the market recently and traders said they appeared good value at these lower levels.

Strong gas prices sent BG Group up by 51% to 3.6 billion pounds by the end of the third quarter, helping it grow profits by 45 %. The shares rose 1.3%.