The Reserve Bank of India has announced that resident individuals would be allowed to remit up to $50,000 per financial year (increased from $25,000) for any current or capital account transactions or a combination of both.

Advancers

Satyam Computer advanced 3% to Rs 428 to lead the gainers, on reports that it has won a $71 million order for 7 years, from Qantas Airways of Australia.

ICICI Bank rose 1.4% to Rs 794.90. The stock struck an all-time high of Rs 804 in late-trading. ICICI Bank expects interest rates to remain steady. HDFC Bank ended 1.4% higher to Rs 1,017.

Tata Steel gained 2% to Rs 504. Some of the major shareholders of Corus Group have sold their shares in the company, raising doubts about a counter offensive to the $8 billion bid of Tata Steel for the Anglo-Dutch steel maker.

Software large-cap Infosys rose 0.8% to Rs 2,144. The stock gained for the third day in a row today, after shareholders approved a sponsored ADR issue, on Tuesday.

Index heavy Reliance Industries advanced 0.6% to Rs 1,260. Mahindra & Mahindra gained 6.6% to Rs 832 after Renault said on Thursday it was expanding its existing joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra to manufacture more models for the Indian market.

Recently listed Development Credit Bank jumped 5% to Rs 51.10. Other companies which advanced included Indo Tech Transformers, jumping nearly 14% to Rs 218.55. Petron Engineering Construction gained 5% to Rs 177.10.

Glenmark Pharma surged nearly 6% to Rs 460. Financial Technologies jumped 7% to Rs 1,924.85. Infrastructure Development Finance Company gained nearly 5% to Rs 79.05. Bank of India and Union Bank of India have joined efforts with Infrastructure Development Finance Company for loan syndication.

Decliners

Car large-cap Maruti Udyog led the decliners falling nearly 3% to Rs 909.80 following reports that Nissan Motor Company has terminated talks with Japanese compact car maker Suzuki Motor Corp, for a project in which Suzuki was to build a Nissan model in India for sale in the local market.

Hindalco Industries plunged 3% to Rs 182.20, after the RBI said that foreign investors will not be allowed to buy shares in the firm without its permission, as foreign investment had touched the 22% limit.


9.45AM The Nasdaq and S&P 500 opened higher. The Dow declined.
U.S. stocks opened mixed Thursday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 extending recent gains, while the Dow moving lower. The strength in the tech sector was contributed by better-than-expected quarterly results from tech bellwether Cisco (CSCO: chart). The networking giant rose 6.8% after reporting strong Q1 profit growth and provided positive guidance. Shares of Cisco moved sharply higher on the news, contributing to significant strength in the networking sector. Cisco Systems pushed technology stocks higher after the world's largest networking equipment maker reported a 28% rise. Technology stocks were also supported by Dow component Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ: chart), rising 1.3% after Goldman Sachs lifted the company’s price target to $46 from $42.50.

Some strength also emerged among gold, internet, and computer hardware stocks. However, airline stocks came under pressure in early trading. Additionally, a notable loss of 1.4% posted by Merck (MRK: chart) weighed on the Dow. Retail stocks advanced after J.C. Penney Co. (JCP: chart) posted higher-than-expected Q3 profit on sales and raised its full-year financial forecast.

Well received economic news also generated positive sentiment. Investors cheered data, showing that trade deficit showed a sharp improvement in September, import prices dropped 2% in October, and initial jobless claims dropped 20,000 to 308,000. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 9.76, or 0.08%, to 12,166.78. The Dow reached a new closing high of 12,176.54 on Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 1.21, or 0.09%, at 1,386.93, and the Nasdaq composite index added 11.37, or 0.48%, to 2,396.31.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 20,000.
Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended November 4. The report showed that jobless claims fell by more than economists had been expecting. The report showed that jobless claims fell to 308,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 328,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to fall to 318,000 compared to the 327,000 originally reported for the previous week. The Labor Department added that the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 311,250 from the previous week's revised average of 311,500. The report also showed that continuing claims in the week ended October 28 rose to 2.448 million from the preceding week's revised level of 2.405 million.


9:30 AM London benchmark index falls due to Bank of England rate hike.
The FTSE 100 index in London lost 22.8 points to trade at 6,216.2, down from a five-year high in the previous session.

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