12:30 PM New York, 10:00PM Mumbai – Sensex closed to yet another high, ninth record in a row.

Sensex in Mumbai was up for the ninth day in a row. The BSE Sensex added 0.8% or 140.5 to close at17,291. Strong rollover from September 2007 futures to October 2007 futures boosted the market Friday. The CNX Nifty rose 0.4% or 20.8 at 5,021. Of the BSE shares, 1,392 fell, 1,362 gained while 58 remain unchanged.

Of the 30-member Sensex, 20 advanced while the rest slid. The BSE net turnover surged 7,915 crore rupees. The National Stock Exchange turnover amounted to 17,595 crore rupees.

The wholesale inflation declined to 3.23% for the week ended September 15th compared to 3.3% for the previous week. The fall was attributed the falling prices of fruits and vegetables, pulses, milk and some manufactured items. The wholesale price based index stood at 5.27% in the corresponding week a year ago. However, prices of cement moved up by 0.2% during the week followed by other items like steel furniture and hydraulic pump.

Of the Sensex shares, Reliance Energy led the gainers with a surge of 8.8% to 1,215 rupees on 35.31 lakh shares. Bharti Airtel slid 2.3% to 938 rupees on 1.83 lakh shares. It was the top loser from Sensex pack.

Tata Motors rose 1% to 758 rupees. Hindalco gained 4.8% to 172 rupees, Cipla increased 3.9% to 183 rupees, ICICI Bank gained 2.99% to 1060 rupees. The bank raised $2 billion through a bond issue in the international market through a five-year fixed rate note. The stock struck an all time high of 1,070 rupees today. State Bank of India surged 4.2% to 1,965 rupees.

Tata Steel surged 7% to 850 rupees after the company Chairman said that the company is likely to generate 60% of its revenue from its UK operation up from 38% a year ago. Other Tata group company Titan Industries jumped 1.1% to 1,470 rupees after the company indicated that it expects profit to rise at least 50% in the fiscal year 2008 and revenue increase of 50% to 3,150 crore rupees.

Sesa Goa surged 8% to 2,548 rupees after it had added 7% on Thursday on the speculation that international iron ore exporters in Australia and Brazil are looking to raise the shipment price by 30% during the upcoming price negotiations with Chinese customers.

Bank of India rose 7.7% to 280 rupees, Canara Bank jumped 3.3% to 278 rupees, Union Bank of India closed firmer at 4.45% 164.25 rupees, Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 3.3% to 924 rupees and Federal Bank gained 2.7% to 375 rupees. Emkay Share & Stock Brokers soared 10% to 146 rupees after its subsidiary received an approval to act as insurance broker.

Arvind Mills jumped 6% to 61.50 rupees after the company approved 5 core convertible warrants to founders at 52 rupees per share. The founders will increase its stake to 47% from 34% after the full conversion.

Financial Technologies surged 6% to 2,760 rupees after the company sold 5% stake in Multi Commodities Exchange to Citigroup and Merrill Lynch each.

Wipro rose 0.09% to 460 rupees. It acquired Oki Techno Centre of Singapore in a cash deal.

Of the Sensex share, some of the decliners were Bharat Heavy Electricals which closed weaker at 0.6% to 2,027 rupees. Infosys was down 1.03% to 1,892 rupees while TCS shed 1.08% to 1,050 rupees. Ambuja Cements slipped 1.4% to 143 rupees, Larsen and Toubro slump 0.6% to 2,818 rupees. Reliance Industries was down 0.7% at 2302 rupees on 7.55 lakh shares.

10:30AM New York – Consumer in the U.S. shows resilience in spending. German retail sales fell. Unemployment in Japan edged higher.

After one hour of trading in New York, stocks meandered on the last day of trading. In the overnight trading in Asia market closed higher but near the end of day stocks in Europe weakened. Volatile third quarter left several markets nervous ahead of earnings season due in the next two weeks.

The Commerce Department reported August personal income increased 0.3% and consumption added 0.6%. Construction spending rose 0.2% from July and fell 1.7% from a year ago to $1.167 trillion. Earlier in the week August consumer price index fell 0.2% from July but added 2% from a year ago and core rate in the index fell 0.1% and up 1.8% from a year ago.

The Reuters/University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment was unchanged in September from August and was reported at 83.4. Chicago purchasing managers’ index increased to 54.2 in September from 53.8 in August.

Economic reports in Japan indicated a mild rise in consumer spending in August and sharp rise in industrial production of 3.4% as automakers revved up manufacturing after earthquake. Unemployment in Japan rose to 3.8% in August from 3.6% in July.

In Germany, retail sales declined in August unexpectedly declined 1.4% and economic outlook for the next year was revised lower to 1.9% from 2.2% earlier in the week. Housing prices edged up a fraction defying the credit market turmoil as reported during the week.

9:00 AM New York – 1:00PM London – Stocks in Europe are trading lower. Deutsche Telekom purchased Orange Netherlands for 1.33 billion euros. Retail sales in Germany fell.

European equities fell in early trade on Friday as investors took a cautious attitude to the last day of trade in the third quarter.

During the turbulent third quarter the CAC 40 has been one of the worst performing European indices, down 5.4% over the period. The Xetra Dax, however, has lost 1.6%, with the FTSE 100 down 1.8%. London’s FTSE 100 gave up on Friday as Tate & Lyle tumbled after a trading update and Northern Rock resumed its decline after two sessions of gains.

In the trading in London, the last trading day of a highly volatile third quarter saw the blue-chip FTSE 100 trading at 6,471.3, down 0.2% on the session. Over the quarter, the FTSE index was down 1.8%, but up 11% from its year low, hit on August 17.

Tate & Lyle, the sugar and sweetener producer fell 24% to 420p after warning on its outlook due to higher European corn prices and a poor performance in its sugar trading. The company added that the weak dollar would also hit profits.

In the banking sector, Northern Rock was again under pressure after Financial Times reports that it was forced to borrow additional 5 billion pounds from the Bank of England. The troubled mortgage lender had climbed strongly during the previous two sessions on speculation of a rescue bid, but Friday’s news pushed the shares 5.3% lower to 184p.

Enterprise Inns said it was too early to fully assess the likely impact on profits of the smoking ban enforced in England and Wales since July. The company said average core earnings per pub increased by more than 6% over the past year. The shares, however, fell 1.6% to 590p on concerns over delays to its £750m debt refinancing, postponed due to volatile markets.

JJB Sports, the mid-cap retailer, reported a 38% slide in first-half profit from a year ago on the boost from the World Cup. The shares climbed 5.8% to 155½p after the company said its second half was likely to be similar to that of a year ago after revenues in the last eight weeks climbed 4.9%.

Frankfurt''s DAX 30 nudged down 0.04% to 7,850.94 as traders were cautious on the last trading of the quarter.