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.


9:45AM Stocks opened in the negative.
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.


9:30AM The FTSE 100 sinks on Friday as profit-taking seized the market.
In afternoon trading on Friday, the FTSE 100 declined 0.86% at 6,088.

Decliners

Exposed to the US markets companies were suffered including fund manager Amvescap, down 3.11%, credit checking firm Experian, declining 2.45% and plumbing supplies group Wolseley, shedding 1.21%. Life insurers Prudential and Old Mutual were also stuck well in the red. Prudential was off 2.45% and Old Mutual lost 2.73%.

Banks extended recent losses as the interest rate outlook remained unclear. Barclays shed 1.4%, Lloyds TSB fell 1.3% and Alliance & Leicester was down 1%.

Airlines shrugged off a report that Gordon Brown will raise taxes on air travel to combat environmental damage. Easyjet sank 0.35% though despite investors focusing on the weak crude price.

Deutsche Bank downgraded Kingfisher to sell from hold ahead of third quarter figures due next week. The broker remains cautious, saying the figures could lead to lower estimates on the DIY retailer. Kingfisher declined 2.14%.

Finnish biotech Inion slumped after it warned sales would be well below forecasts. That warning comes just seven weeks after it said there was no reason for its recent share price decline. Shares of Inion plunged 6.80%.

Advancers

Contrary to Easyjet, BA held steady and gained 0.92%. Cairn Energy shares continued to make gains on the back of Thursday successful Cairn India share placement. Shares in the oil explorer rose 1.3%.