11:30AM Google gained 2% on speculations the company would acquire YouTube.
Stocks were kept under pressure Monday by North Korea''s decision to conduct a nuclear test, as well as by higher crude oil prices. Investors were also focused on a $6 billion deal in the banking sector and a buyout offer for Cablevision''s minority shareholders. A day before kicking off the third-quarter earnings season, aluminum giant Alcoa (AA: chart) rose 2%, offering support to the Dow. DuPont (DD: chart) also moved higher. The biggest drags on the blue-chip index were Boeing (BA: chart), General Motors (GM: chart) and Verizon Communications (VZ: chart).

In corporate news, Google (GOOG: chart) rose 2% on a report saying that the company could announce a deal to acquire YouTube.com for about $1.6 billion after the closing bell. In brokerage news, AT&T Inc. (T: chart) rose nearly 1% after Citigroup raised its rating on the telecom operator to buy from hold on the belief the company will release stronger earnings than its rival Verizon Communications (VZ: chart). McDonald''s Corp. (MCD: chart) added slightly after Morgan Stanley upgraded the fast-food giant to overweight from equal-weight due to improving results in Europe. In morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 21.14, or 0.18%, to 11,829.07. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index fell 1.65, or 0.12%, to 1,347.93, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.26, or 0.01%, to 2,299.73. The U.S. bond market was closed for Columbus Day.


10:30AM The Sensex ended almost flat in a volatile trading session.
The Sensex on BSE finished 6.98 points lower, at 12,365.83. The benchmark index traded in a range of 141.35 points. The market-breadth was strong with 1,643 shares that advanced, 861 which declined and 65 shares were unchanged. Turnover on BSE was Rs 3,337 crore, lower than Rs 3,686 crore on Friday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 5,767.87 crore.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced on Monday that Indian economic growth rate stood at 8% and the trend was expected to continue for the next 30 month period. The Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram also said that India needs to reforms its pension and insurance sectors and develop a corporate debt market to raise long term funds of $50 billion annually from domestic markets to improve its rickety infrastructure.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said that the government is targeting $12 billion of foreign direct investment in the current fiscal year, a 44% jump in fund flows from $8.3 billion in the previous year. In the first four months between April and July of this fiscal year, country has attracted $2.9 billion compared to $1.5 billion a year ago in the same period.

Most active

Recently-listed Atlanta surged 19.51% to Rs 261.60, on strong buying momentum on a huge volume of 59.32 lakh shares on BSE. Atlanta was also the most-active stock on BSE, with a turnover of Rs 149.82 crore. Hindustan Zinc (Rs 92.42 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 88.27 crore) and Action Construction Equipment (Rs 75.72 crore) followed close.

Advancers

Drug maker, Cipla, led the advancers, up 2.36% to Rs 262 on a strong volume of 2.39 lakh shares. Other gainers included L&T which added 2.09% to Rs 1,293, Grasim that gained 1.54% to Rs 2,559.75, and Gujarat Ambuja which jumped up 1.44% to Rs 123.70.

Software large-cap Infosys rose from a low of Rs 1,850, to end 1.23% higher, at Rs 1,895 on 2.46 lakh shares. The stock had surged to Rs 1,919, a 52-week high on better than expected results. Other IT stocks, such as Wipro (up 0.27% to Rs 515) and TCS (up 0.90% to Rs 1,002) also gained.

Tata Motors gained 1.71% to Rs 909. The company has lifted the market price of buses and trucks by up to 2%, because of increasing costs of key inputs like steel and tyres.

Decliners

Satyam led the decliners down 49.88% to Rs 406.50, HDFC fell 2.56% to Rs 1,395, Reliance Energy was down 2.23% to Rs 469. Satyam Computer ended the session at Rs 406.65, on a volume of 4.31 lakh shares, compared to Friday closing of Rs 811.05. The stock turned ex-bonus (for 1:1 bonus) today.

Tata Steel shed 1.81% to Rs 527.20, on 16.69 lakh shares. The steel company had lined up $6.5 billion to stave off any takeover bid for the Anglo-Dutch steel maker. Tata Steel said last week it may bid for the steel conglomerate.

NTPC lost 1.20% to Rs 129.10 on 2.31 lakh shares. There are reports that the company has offered Qatar (government) 40% stake in a gas-fired power project in Kerala.

Index heavy Reliance Industries shed 0.84%, to Rs 1,153.25, on a volume of 5.58 lakh shares. It traded in a narrow range of Rs 1,166.70 - Rs 1,152. Faced with strong political protest, Reliance Energy Ltd. has deferred the proposed hike in electricity tariff for its 25 lakh consumers in Mumbai.


9:45AM Market opened lower on geopolitical news and rising oil.
Stocks opened weak as investors turned to profit taking amid geopolitical news and rising oil prices. North Korea announced it had successfully carried out underground nuclear test Monday, sending South Korean stock market down 2.4%. The U.S. dollar rallied against the Korean won, slightly gained versus the yen, and was little changed versus the euro. In early trading, oil service stocks benefited from the increase by the price of oil. Semiconductors also showed strength, while some housing stocks like Beazer Homes (BZH: chart), Centex (CTX: chart), and Vulcan Materials (VMC: chart)moved notably down.

In merger-and-acquisition news, shares of Mercantile Bankshares Corp. (MRBK: chart) surged 20% after the PNC Financial Services (PNC: chart) agreed to buy the company for $6 billion in cash and shares. Among stocks, driven by analyst comments, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: chart) gained 1.8%, helping to lead the semiconductor sector after UBS upgraded it rating on the chip maker to Neutral from Reduce, citing valuation. Shares of Caremark Rx (CMX: chart) dropped 4.7% after UBS downgraded its rating to Neutral from Buy. UBS also downgraded fellow PBMs Express Scripts (ESRX: chart) and Medco Health Solutions (MHS: chart), saying that the companies'' earnings are likely to disappoint on lower drug prices. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 11.45, or 0.10%, to 11,838.76. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index fell 1.17, or 0.09%, to 1,348.41, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 2.37, or 0.10%, to 2,297.62.