11:30AM Stocks erased earlier losses. The Nasdaq advanced.
The U.S. stock markets turned mixed, with the Nasdaq moving above the flat line, while the Dow and the S&P 500 trading in negative territory. Stocks erased some of the earlier losses, as some investors bought into weakness sparked by wage inflation worries, a disappointing outlook from Wal-Mart Stores, and a brokerage downgrade of Intel Corp. Government showed that labor costs rose more than expected, while business productivity was flat in the third quarter.

A decline in crude oil prices and a brokerage upgrade on computer maker Dell helped limit losses. Health insurance and healthcare provider stocks posted strength, while utilities and oil service stocks further declined.

Discount retailers brought weakness in the retail sector, as most of them reported lower-than-expected sales. Wal-Mart Stores (WMT: chart) fell 1.8% after it said it expects November same-store sales to come in flat. Target Corp. (TGT: chart) dropped 2.4% after it said same-store sales climbed 3.9%, below expectations of a 4.2% gain. Costco (COST: chart) shares also fell 2.3% after its October sales disappointed.

Dow component Intel (INTC: chart) lost 1.3% after Merrill Lynch downgraded its rating on the semiconductor giant to neutral from buy, due to weakening demand and persistent excess capacity. On the other hand, Dell (DELL: chart) rallied 3.3% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the computer maker to neutral from sell, saying it expects the company to achieve better-than-expected earnings. Citigroup upgraded its rating on Lincare (LNCR: chart), provider of respiratory therapy services, to buy from hold. Lincare shares jumped 10%.In late morning trading, the Dow, which had fallen below the 12,000 benchmark, was up 0.97, or 0.01%, at 12,031.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 0.38, or 0.03%, at 1,368.19, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 1.12, or 0.05%, at 2,335.47. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60% from 4.57% late Thursday.

Factory orders rose less than expected.
Thursday morning, the Department of Commerce released its report on factory orders in the month of September, showing that orders rose less than economists had been expecting. The report showed that factory orders rose 2.1 percent in September following a revised 0.3 percent decrease in August. Economists had expected orders to increase by 3.6 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month. The increase in orders was largely due to a sharp rise in orders for durable goods, which rose 8.3 percent in September. Last week, the increase in durable goods orders was reported at 7.8 percent. The sharp rise in orders for durable goods, which was largely due to a substantial increase in orders for commercial aircraft, was partly offset by a 4.6 percent decrease in orders for non-durable goods. The report also showed that shipments of manufactured goods fell 3.5 percent, while inventories of manufactured goods rose 0.6 percent. Subsequently, the inventories-to-shipments ratio rose to 1.22 in September from 1.17 in August.


10:30AM The Sensex hits an all-time high supported by buying in large-caps.
The Sensex on BSE finished 58 points or 0.45% higher to 13,091.12. The market-breadth, positive throughout the day, turned negative in the latter part of the trading session, on selling pressure for small and midcap stocks. For 1209 shares that advanced, 1309 declined, and 70 were unchanged. From the Sensex stocks, 17 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3974.23 crore, lower than the turnover of Rs 4114 crore on Wednesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 7,363.93 crore.

Most active

Reliance Industries was the most active stock on BSE with turnover of Rs 207.14 crore. Indiabulls Financial Services came second.

Advancers

Oil exploration large-cap ONGC le dhte advancers, up 3.87% to Rs 835.10 on 4.97 lakh shares. It traded in a range of Rs 806 to Rs 842.

Bajaj Auto advanced 2.11% to Rs 2,800. The stock recovered after slipping to a low of Rs 2728. Maruti Udyog rose 1.74% to Rs 979 on 3.70 lakh shares.

Index heavy Reliance Industries gained 0.89% to Rs 1,275.40 on 16.16 lakh shares. It retreated from gains after advancing to an all-time high of Rs 1,298.50 in later trading.

Drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories rose 1.28% to Rs 761 while housing finance large-cap, HDFC rose 1.39% to Rs 1,448.

Refinery shares also advanced on renewed buying, as crude prices stayed low. HPCL gained 0.73% to Rs 330.80, Indian Oil Corporation rose 1.69% to Rs 525 and BPCL rose 1% to Rs 413.

Decliners

Satyam Computers led the decliners, down 1.78% to Rs 427.15 on 4.48 lakh shares. Other IT shares also declined, as Infosys was off 0.89% to Rs 2,085, Wipro lost 0.69% to Rs 533.50 and TCS sank 0.21% to Rs 1,080.

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.