[R]11:30AM Retail stock traded lower on Black Friday.[/R]
A steep drop of the U.S. dollar kept stocks under pressure Friday, as it heightened inflation worries and diminished the appeal of U.S. shares. The dollar fell on concerns about central banks' diversifying their reserves and the greenback's narrowing yield advantage over other currencies.

Retail stocks declined on Black Friday as the sector's main measure dropped into the red in early trading. Family Dollar (FDO: chart) fell 1.6% after the discount retailer said it won't file its annual report by the Friday extended deadline, citing its continuing investigation into stock options. Shares in Target Corp. (TGT: chart) lost about 1%, while Sears Holding (SHLD: chart) inched up 0.4%. Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) also moved slightly down. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 15.30, or 0.12%, at 12,311.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 1.30, or 0.09%, at 1,404.79, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 1.69, or 0.07%, at 2,467.67. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.53% from 4.56% late Wednesday.


[R]10:30AM The Sensex finishes the day slightly higher on buying in large-caps.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished on Friday with 22.50-point gain, or 0.16%, at 13,703.33. The market-breadth was positive throughout as small-cap and mid-cap stocks also benefitted from the rally. As 1,336 shares advanced on BSE, 1,195 declined and 88 remained unchanged. Among the 30-Sensex stocks, 18 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,213 crore, lifted by four block deals of 15.30 lakh shares each, executed in HDFC in opening trade at an average Rs 1,662 per share. Yesterday the turnover was Rs 5,531.48 crore. The turnover on NSE was Rs 8194.92, lower than Rs 8,884.68 crore.

Economic news

The wholesale price index in India rose 5.29% in the 12 months to Nov. 11, marginally lower than the previous week annual increase of 5.30% due to lower energy and milk prices, data showed on Friday. The figure was lower than a forecast of 5.32%.

Most active stocks

HDFC was the top traded stock on BSE, with a total turnover of Rs 1,021.86 crore, followed by Siemens, Bombay Dyei and Tata Steel.

Advancers

NTPC led the gainers, up 5.64% to Rs 149.95, on a high volume of 26.05 lakh shares. It struck a new 52-week high of Rs 150.70 following strong demand. As per grapevine, the company will benefit the most if the Indo-US nuclear deal finally sees the light of day. Pharma large-cap Dr Reddy’s advanced 2.53% to Rs 756, while Hindustan Lever was up 1.02% at Rs 243.10.

Tata Steel rose 2.57% to Rs 483.55, on a volume of 15.34 lakh shares. The company rejected media reports about a sweetened bid for Corus Group, to stall the counter-bid by a Brazilian company. Soon after Brazil CSN on 17 November launched a counter bid for Corus, the Tata Steel stock started declining with investors worrying that the steel maker will over-pay in a bidding war.

ONGC rose 1.16% to Rs 855, on reports that it is likely to win 21 blocks in the sixth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP VI). Of the 21 likely to be awarded to ONGC, 12 are deep-water blocks. Cipla and Hindalco gained 1.7% each at Rs 264 and Rs 178, respectively while Wipro ended to Rs 590.

Decliners

Hero Honda led the decliners, down 1.47% to Rs 735.95. It had hit a high of Rs 747. Zinc and cement producer Binani Industries lost 1.52% to Rs 354 ahead of the initial public offer of its subsidiary, Binani Cement.

Index heavy Reliance Industries lost 0.90% to Rs 1,260, on 4.39 lakh shares. It had hit an intra-day high of Rs 1,274.50. Thomas Cook India dropped 1.2% to Rs 533.95, after it reported 64.8% fall in net profit for the October quarter. Thomas Cook India lost 3.60% to Rs 521.25 after it reported a sharp decline in net profit to Rs 3.08 crore for the quarter ended October 2006.

Siemens sank 8.34% to Rs 1,172.50, slipping for the second straight day, after the company reported below market expectations results on 22 November. Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel shed 1% each to Rs 1,387 and Rs 616, respectively.


[R]9:45AM Stocks opened in the negative.[/R]
U.S. stock markets opened in the negative, as a sharp drop in the dollar added to inflation worries and diminished the appealing of U.S. shares to foreigners. The euro broke through the $1.30 level for the first time since April 2005. The sharp sell-off of the dollar continued and it fell to as low as 115.61 yen from 116.27 yen late Thursday. The British pound rose to $1.9351 from $1.9156. The steep decline of the dollar sent gold futures on a strong rally. Gold for December delivery jumped $9.30 to $638.30 an ounce in electronic trading. The Nymex is closed for trading Friday, leaving the electronic Chicago Board of Trade contract as only way to trade the precious metal. At the same time, mining stocks advanced along with the gold price. Shares of Meridian Gold Inc. ((MDG) jumped 6.2%.

Shares of U.S. retailers moved slightly lower. Shares of Federated Department Stores Inc. (FD: chart) slipped 0.7%. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT: chart), which is due to release its initial ''Black Friday'' sales on Saturday, dipped 0.5%. Outside the sector, Intel Corp. (INTC: chart) fell 1.1% to $21.48 after a South Korean newspaper reported the company had decided to close a research and development center in the country.

A quiet trading session is expected as a lot of investors haven’t come back from the Thanksgiving holiday, but the thin trading is also likely to lead to erratic movements. The stock markets will close at 1 p.m. EST. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 66.73, or 0.54%, at 12,260.22. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 6.59, or 0.47%, at 1,399.50, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 15.84, or 0.64%, at 2,450.14.