11:30AM Market averages traded mixed. Tech stocks led losers.
U.S. stock averages traded mixed, as investors digested recent economic data and the urgent tone of Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who warned of looming budget crisis and gave little clue about the direction of interest rates. The Nasdaq continued to move lower as disappointing guidance from Apple and Intel raised concerns about the outlook for the technology sector.

The steep decline by the Nasdaq was contributed by substantial weakness among technology stocks, led by shares of Apple (AAPL: chart), down 4.3%. Shares of the iPod and PC maker slipped after it reported strong Q1 profit growth that came in above analyst estimates but forecast Q2 results below expectations. Other computer hardware stocks also came under pressure. Dell (DELL: chart) declined 1.9% and Sun Microsystems (SUNW: chart) dropped 2.5%. The semiconductor sector also showed significant weakness. Semiconductor equipment makers Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) dropped 5.2%, Novellus (NVLS: chart) fell 4.3%, and KLA-Tencor (KLAC: chart) slipped 4.6%. Dow component Intel (INTC: chart) was also a notable decliner, falling 1.6%.

Energy stocks declined, as the price of oil moved notably lower after government data showed strong crude oil and gasoline inventories. Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart) lost 1.4% and Chevron (CVX: chart) fell 1%. At the same time, oil-sensitive stocks benefited from the price decrease, with airline and retail stocks posting strong gains. Telecom stocks helped limit the downside for the Dow, with gains by Verizon (VZ: chart), up 1.7% and AT&T (T: chart), up 1.5%. Blue chips were also supported by earnings-inspired gains for brokerage giant Merrill Lynch (MER: chart). In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.28, or 0.03%, to 12,580.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 1.44, or 0.10%, to 1,429.18, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 20.02, or 0.81%t, to 2,459.40. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.80% from 4.78% late Wednesday.

Crude oil and gasoline inventories climbed.
Government data released Thursday showed that crude oil inventories jumped sharply higher in the most recent week, reversing a draw down that took place in the previous week. Meanwhile, gasoline and distillate stockpiles also rose. The Department of Energy''s Energy Information Administration said that crude oil inventories rose 6.8 million barrels in the week ended January 12. Specifically, the measure climbed to 321.5 million barrels from the previous week''s level of 314.7 million barrels. This followed a decline of 5 million barrels in the previous week and a slide of 1.3 million barrels in the week before that. Oil inventories for the January 12 week were 0.7% lower than last year. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories showed a week-over-week increase of 3.5 million barrels. This added to a recent streak of gains, including a rise of 3.8 million barrels in the previous week. The level of gasoline inventories was 1.7% above last year. Distillate fuel oil also had an inventory increase during the week ended January 12. Stockpiles of these products, which include heating oil, edged up by 900,000 barrels. This added to an advance of 5.4 million barrels recorded in the previous week.


10:30 AM NY-9:30PM Mumbai Sensex ends at all-time high on Reliance rally.
The Sensex on BSE finished 86.41 points, or 0.6%, higher at 14,217.75. The market-breadth was positive, though it weakened at the end of trading. As 1,386 shares advanced on BSE, 1293 declined and 57 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 20 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5053 crore, higher than Rs 4746 crore on Wednesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 10,178.12, compared to Rs 8,766.02 crore on Wednesday.

Economic news

The Commerce Ministry has postponed the meeting on Special Economic Zones scheduled to meet on January 22 The meeting should approve some policy changes in the SEZ rules and look into concerns and suggestions connected with land acquisition for Special Economic Zones which has become a burning issue in states like West Bengal.

U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley announced on Thursday that its real-estate arm has invested about $152 million in Indian real-estate developer Oberoi Constructions, asits third investment in an Indian property company.

The strong results of software large-caps in the last quarter have sparked hopes that the target of $60 billion worth of software exports by 2009-10 is well within reach.

Trading highlights

Oil refiner and petrochemical producer Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday registered a quarterly net profit growth of 58 per cent. Reliance, the biggest maker of polyester fibre and yarn in the world, announced its net profit rose to Rs 2,799 crore from Rs 1,776 crore, much ahead of market expectations. Net sales advanced 45.7% to Rs 26,472 crore from Rs 18,168 crore. Petrochemical margins grew over 35% in Q3 on higher product prices and a decline in feedstock prices.

Tech Mahindra has posted a 16.5% jump in net profit at Rs 166.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 when compared with Rs 143.2 crore for the same period a year ago.

Most-active stocks

Tech Mahindra was also the most-active stock today with a turnover of Rs 387.40 crore followed by Reliance and IFCI.

Advancers

Housing finance large-cap HDFC surged 3.3% to Rs 1,599.70, leading the advancers. ONGC gained 2.2% to Rs 915. ONGC stated that natural the gas find off the eastern coast of India is commercially viable, and further details will be given later.

Reliance Industries gained 1.5% to Rs 1,370. It had struck an all-time high of Rs 1,383.50. Satyam Computer gained 1.8% to Rs 518, ahead of Q3 results. Analysts expect between 4.5% - 10.8% growth in consolidated net profit, between Rs 334.20 crore and Rs 354.30 crore, in December 2006.

Bharti Airtel advanced 0.7% to Rs 672, Maruti gained 1% at Rs 918 and Wipro also finished higher, over 1% at Rs 641. Larsen & Toubro surged over 2% to Rs 1,586. ITC, Hindustan Lever and BHEL advanced around 1.5% each at Rs 172, Rs 224 and Rs 2,304, respectively.

Mid-cap also surged on Q3 results. NIIT Tech jumped 20% to Rs 409.50, extending post-results surge from Wednesday. Consolidated net profit rose 92% in December 2006 quarter to Rs 34.60 crore, compared to Rs 18 crore at the same time the previous year. Biocon advanced 11% to Rs 413.85, after its December 2006 quarter net profit rose 45% from a year ago to Rs 47.51 crore.

Decliners