[R]10:30AM The Sensex hits an all-time high supported by buying in large-caps.[/R]
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.

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.

[R]9:45AM Market opened lower on mixed retail sales and weak data.[/R]
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%.

Dow component Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) was ine of the biggest disappointments, as the world''s largest retailer reported a meager 0.5% rise in same-store sales and 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.