Industrial production increased 14.4% in November 2006 compared to a year ago, much higher than market forecasts on a strong surge in manufacturing output.

Trading highlights

Tech Mahindra was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 248.45 crore followed by Reliance Industries and IFCI.

Advancers

Banks rallied on the cabinet decision to lower the SLR, giving the Reserve Bank of India more flexibility. ICICI Bank surged almost 8% to Rs 965. State Bank of India jumped 6% to Rs 1,222, HDFC Bank advanced 6.8% to Rs 1,067. HDFC Bank, on Thursday, posted a 31.7% growth in net profit to Rs 295.64 crore. UTI Bank gained 3.9% to Rs 499.45. The private sector bank today released 40.1% growth in net profit for December 2006 quarter to Rs 184.61 crore. Housing finance large-cap HDFC advanced nearly 5% to Rs 1,596.

Index heavy Reliance Industries surged 3.6% to Rs 1,343. Reportedly, Reliance Industries is considering the possibility of joining the bidding race for plastic business of General Electric, deal may be worth more than $8 billion.

Bharti Airtel soared nearly 5% to Rs 667, on hopes of strong third quarter results. Power equipment maker BHEL surged nearly 5% to Rs 2,260, buoyed by strong industrial production data for November.

IT shares continued their rally from Thursday following an increase in stock price in New York trading on Thursday. TCS surged 4% to Rs 1,330. TCS reports Q3 results on January 15. Infosys gained 1.5% to Rs 2,217, after New York listed ADR advanced 3.6% on Thursday to $56.22. Satyam Computer was up 2.4% to Rs 492, after its ADR added 5.3% on Thursday to $24.26.

IFCI jumped 5% to Rs 21.75. The stock advanced on a huge volume of 6.3 crore shares on BSE, following the company decision to unlock a part of its holding in NSE on Wednesday.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) gained nearly 5% to Rs 90.55 and state-owned oil refiners Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL, HPCL and IBP advanced between 3.9% and 6.1% on declining crude prices.

Sugar companies Balrampur Chini Mills, Dhampur Sugar Mills and Bajaj Hindustan advanced between 4 - 6.4% after the Central Government on Thursday raised the ban on sugar exports.


[R]9:45AM Market opened little changed. Techs advanced, despite profit warning from AMD.[/R]
Wall Street opened Friday session little changed, as profit warnings from chip maker Advanced Micro Devices and business software provider SAP AG took a bite of the tech stocks strength that powered rally yesterday. Shares of AMD (AMD: chart) dropped 12.5% in early trading, while SAP (SAP: chart) remained in the positive territory, up 2.8%. Despite the unfavorable news, Dow components Microsoft (MSFT: chart) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: chart) traded 1% higher, while Google and Amazon gained 1% on the Nasdaq. Investors also digested stronger-than-expected retail sales data which stirred interest-rate worries. The Commerce Department said that December retail sales rose to a five-month high of 0.9%. Crude oil prices gained some ground, rising to $52.11 a barrel, helping energy stocks recover. Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart) advanced 1%. The Dow rose 4.88, or 0.04%, to 12,519.86. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index rose 2.10, or 0.15%, to 1,425.92, and the Nasdaq composite rose 5.36, or 0.22%, to 2,490.21. The bond market was rattled after the Commerce Department report. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.77%, the highest since October, up from 4.74% late Thursday.


[R]9:30AM NY-2:30PM London The FTSE declines on real estate, oil, mining stocks.[/R]
The FTSE 100 lost 17 points, or 0.26%, at 6,214 in mid-afternoon on Friday.

Advancers

There were only a few gainers on the market. Hotel company, InterContinental Hotels, was advanced as bid talk resurfaced. Speculation has centered on a private equity bid from the likes of Permira, Starwood Capital or a consortium in the Middle East. InterContinental Hotels gained 1.85%.

Bear Stearns upgraded drug giant AstraZeneca to outperform from peer perform with a higher target arguing that the shares are now looking relatively cheap following the recent sell-off. AstraZeneca advanced 1.41%.

Decliners

The profit warning from EMI is the main company news though. Annual profits at its music business will miss expectations after a weak Christmas. Music boss Alain Levy is also leaving as part of a 110 million pounds cost-cutting exercise and will be replaced by executive chairman Eric Nicoli. EMI plunged 6.71%