Though trading was characterised by volatiility right from the opening bell, intense volatility marked the the last hour of the session, with the market swinging wildly.

The Sensex struck and intra-day high and low in the last one hour of trade. The sharp fall triggered by profit booking after the recent rally was reversed by short covering and value buying. Asian and European markets were subdued.

Real-estate stocks were in action, led by developer DLF. Shares from metal, cement and auto also logged decent gains. However, capital goods, FMCG and sugar stocks saw profit booking.

The BSE 30-share Sensex gained 33.18 points to 15,323, as per provisional close. It was extremely choppy, hitting intra-day high and intra-day low in the last one hour of trade. It opened slightly up at 15,296.06, but was not able to sustain at higher levels and, hence, soon succumbed to selling pressure. It touched a low of 15,160.27 at 14:33 IST. From a low, it staged a solid recovery to hit an intra-day high of 15,325.78 at 15:23 IST

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5,720 crore compared to Rs 4,213 crore by 14:30 IST.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was negative on BSE, with 1,496 shares declining as compared to 1,158 that advanced, while 89 remained unchanged. The breadth was positive in the morning session.

From the Sensex pack, 16 gained, while the rest slipped.

Aluminium and copper major Hindalco Industries surged 4.62% to Rs 186.80 on 14.59 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. It saw intense volatility, swinging in the range of Rs 173 – Rs 187.90

Telecom pivotals Reliance Communications (up 1.62% to Rs 569.90) and Bharti Airtel (up 3.45% to Rs 893.10) saw strong buying interest. Both the firms had reported robust subscriber additions in the month of June 2007.

Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto advanced 3.24% to Rs 2,291. Recently, there were reports that the company is looking for a big-ticket acquisition in the European motorcycle market, and that bike companies Ducati Motor Holding of Italy and Triumph Motorcycles of the UK are among the possible targets.

Cement stocks, quiet for most part of the day, suddenly firmed up in the last one hour of trade. ACC (up 2.74% to Rs 1141), Grasim (up 2.10% to Rs 2915), and Birla Corporation (up 3.06% to Rs 303.10), gained from the cement pack.

Shares from capital goods sector took a breather after the recent rally. Engineering and construction major L&T slumped 2.20% to Rs 2340, on 2.44 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

Reliance Energy (REL) slipped 1.35% to Rs 689.15 despite reporting a net-profit rise of 25.45% to Rs 221.56 crore in Q1 June 2007 as against Rs 176.61 crore in Q1 June 2006. Total income rose 49.62% to 1983.93 crore (Rs 1325.97 crore). The results were announced during market hours today.

ONGC (down 1.72% to Rs 892), ITC (down 1.57% to Rs 153.25) and Satyam Computers (down 1.38% to Rs 481.55) slipped on profit booking.

Reliance Industries (RIL) declined 0.89% to Rs 1,811.10 on 6.89 lakh shares on profit booking after hitting an all-time high of Rs 1,849 earlier during the day. The company had announced after market hours yesterday, 17 July 2007, that it had hit gas in the first well in the Cauvery deep-water basin off the east coast of India.

The deep-water block, located in the Cauvery Basin in an area of 14,325 square kilometers, was awarded to RIL under the bidding round of NELP III. RIL holds a 100% participating interest in this block. Rumours about the company’s oil & gas find were floating in the markets since pre-market hours on 17 July 2007, with the stock surging 2.86% on that day itself.

Real-estate major DLF vaulted 6.34% to Rs 648.85 on bagging a Rs 6,000-crore project from the Delhi Development Authority for design, development and operation of an international convention centre, proposed to be developed in Sector 24, Dwarka, New Delhi.

Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) was locked at 20% upper circuit at Rs 87.15 over the base price of Rs 72.65 on BSE on the day of its debut today, 18 July 2007. About 3.84 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE. Stock exchanges had set Rs 72.65 as base price for the purpose of calculating the daily circuit filter of 20% for the first day of trading.

The listing of the company follows a scheme of arrangement at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SPIL). The research division of SPIL was demerged and vested with SPARC on a going-concern basis.

All the Asian markets moved lower today, 18 July 2007, with Japanese shares declining sharply following the powerful earthquake in northern Japan on Monday, 16 July 2007. Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.11% to 18,015.89.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 0.93% at 22,841.92) and Singapore's Straits Times (down 1.84% at 3,583.97) also edged lower.

However, Shanghai Composite was an exception, advancing 0.87% to 3,930.06.

All the European indices were trading weak, except Spain’s Madrid General which rose 0.26%.

Shares surged on Wall Street on Tuesday, 17 July 2007, with the Dow hitting 14,000 for the first time as several blue-chip companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The Dow Jones rose 20.57 points, or 0.15%, to close at 13,971.55. Broader stock indicators ended mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.15 points, or 0.01%, to 1,549.37 having set its own record highs in recent sessions. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 14.96 points, or 0.55%, to 2,712.29.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 359.06 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of shares worth Rs 164.93 crore on Tuesday, 17 July 2007.

Oil prices edged up on Wednesday, 18 July 2007, after two days of losses, as traders awaited the release of US weekly inventory data for further proof that recovering refinery operations had lifted gasoline supplies. London Brent crude for September 2007 rose 12 cents to $75.65 a barrel. US light crude for August delivery rose 23 cents to $74.25 a barrel.