With the political crisis at the Centre receding after the UPA government got a little head room from the Left parties to arrive at a compromise formula on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) surged by 260.89 points or 1.84% to close the day at 14,424.87 points ignoring the weak global cues. With this gain, the benchmark index closed the day with a weekly gain of 283.35 points or 2%. On the other hand, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day at 4,190.15 points, gaining 1.83% or 75.2 points.

However, major Asian markets traded weak and closed in the red on concerns that the US economy was heading for a slowdown after the chief executive of Countrywide Financial, the biggest US Mortgage company, stated that the housing downturn could drag the domestic economy into recession. Following this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on a flat note at 13,235.88 points, marginally down by 0.25 points.

In Asia, Nikkei 225 was down by 67.35 points or 0.41% at 16,248.97 points, Hang Seng down by 45.08 points or 0.20% at 22,921.89 points and Taiwan Weighted closed at 8,690.09 points, down by 42.75 points or 0.49%.

Jignesh Desai, head-institutional sales, SBICAP Securities, said, ?When the US sub-prime woes eased, all major global markets rallied higher, but the Indian market was held back by the domestic political crisis. But now that the tension has eased, Indian market managed to buck the overall bearish trend seen in Asia.?

Meanwhile, India?s headline inflation based on the Whole Sale Price Index rose to 4.10% in the 12 months to August 11, 2007, slightly up from the previous week?s figure of 4.05% due to rise in prices of food articles and manufactured products. However, the rising market took it in its own stride, dealers said.

According to provisional figures released by the stock exchanges (SEs), foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 275 crore on Friday, who were net buyers of Rs 275 crore on Thursday.

On Friday, the market breadth was positive with 1,563 stocks gaining ground while 1,067 stocks ending the day in red. Among the Sensex pack, 28 stocks advanced as against two stocks declining.