Foreign funds moving into Indian equities have increased more than $7.7 billion this year, compared to a record $10.7 billion in 2005.

India, the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world, is seen doubling imports due to a shortage of about four million tonnes on account of a poor harvest in 2005/06, industry officials announced.

Most-active stocks

Tech Mahindra was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 172.60 crore followed by Mahindra Gesco, State Bank of India, Glenmark and Hindustan Zinc.

Advancers

Oil marketing firms surged as crude oil price fell to one year low on Thursday. BPCL ended at Rs 378.90, Indian Oil Corporation at Rs 511.05 and HPCL at Rs 319.90. All rose between 4.7% 6.3%.

NTPC surged nearly 4% to Rs 140.30. The company announced on Friday it planned to invest Rs 3,425 crore to set up a 520-megawatt hydro power project.

Housing finance large-cap HDFC gained 3.3% to Rs 1,608 on the assumption that the housing loan demand may remain strong. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,616 which is an all-time high.

Other gainers include NTPC rising 2.89% to Rs 138.90, Reliance Communications advancing 1.40% to Rs 402.15; Bharti Airtel edging up 0.83% to Rs 582.20 and ACC advancing 0.61% to 1,094.

Decliners

Dr Reddy’s Lab led the decliners today. It shed nearly 5% to Rs 738 after it raised $200 million in an issue of American Depositary Receipts, below market estimates of up to $260 million. It priced the issue at $16 per ADS.

The latest data showing an increase in inflation impacted shares of private sector banks negatively. ICICI Bank lost 1.2% to Rs 877 and HDFC dropped 1.9% to Rs 1,122. The sharp decline in oil price pulled oil exploration large-cap ONGC lower. The stock lost 2.3% to Rs 850.20.

Reliance Industries shed 0.4% to Rs 1,258.10. Reliance Industries has secured an offshore exploration block in Timor Leste. Reliance Industries will have a majority interest and operator-ship in that block. Infosys declined 0.1% to Rs 2,190. The company had soared over 9% in opening trade to Rs 2401 due to a punching error.

Cement shares also declined. Gujarat Ambuja Cements was off 2.3% to Rs 135.65, Grasim fell 1.3% to Rs 2,680 and UltraTech Cement shed 2.4% to Rs 883. ACC closed flat at Rs 1,087.95. Swiss cement company Holcim on Thursday acquired additional 3.6% stake in Gujarat Ambuja Cements raising its holding to 18.4%, for Rs 685 crore.

Auto shares continued their decline. Hero Honda shed 1.9% to Rs 692.50, Bajaj Auto sank 0.9% to Rs 2,564, Maruti Udyog lost 0.4% to Rs 889.30 and Tata Motors lost 0.6% to Rs 808.40.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd lost 0.5% to Rs 812.50 as it informed BSE that the company is in discussion with the promoters of Schoeneweiss & Co GmbH, a forging company based in Germany, to acquire a majority stake in the company.

Other decliners included BHEL and Satyam declining 1% each to Rs 2,426 and Rs 434, respectively. Hindustan Lever ended at Rs 240 and Tata Steel at Rs 476, shedding 1.3% each.


9:45AM Nymex boosted its IPO. It started trading at $120.
Stocks reversed from solid gains after the Commerce Department reported that housing construction fell to its lowest level in more than six years, driven by fund selling across commodity markets on concern of an economic slowdown in the United States. Nymex Holdings (NMX: chart) will be in the spotlight as it priced its IPO above the planned range late Thursday. The IPO of 6.5 million shares priced at $59 each, came in above the expected range of $54 to $57 a share. Nymex had already boosted its IPO price range from $48 to $52 a share earlier this week and increased the size of the offering from 6 million shares. In earnings news, Starbucks Corp. (SBUX: chart) posted a 5% drop in Q4 profit, meeting expectations. The stock fell 5.6% as investors grew concerned about issues such as labor costs. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: chart) gained 1% after it agreed to buy Conor Medsystem, a developer of drug-eluting stents, for $33.50 a share, or $1.4 billion.

The semiconductor sector turned in one of the market''s worst performances, with Marvell (MRVL: chart), down 3.2%, helping to lead the sector lower after negative analyst comments. Housing stocks came under pressure, as traders took profit after recent strength. A decrease in commodities prices contributed to some weakness among resource stocks. In the first hour of trading, the Dow fell 20.18, or 0.16%, to 12,285.64. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 2.83, or 0.20%, at 1,396.93, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 7.56, or 0.31%, at 2,441.50. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.63% from 4.67% late Thursday.