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Updated at 1045 hrs: The Sensex is now down 48 points at 14,248.

Out of 1826 scrips traded, 727 have advenced and 1008 have declined.

Sterlite has moved up 1% to Rs 619. Maruti Suzuki, Bharti and Satyam are also trading with gains.

Hindalco is down 10.4% at Rs 124. DLF, BHEL and Reliance are also trading with losses.

Updated at 1015 hrs: The Sensex is now up 8 points at 14,305.

Out of 1373 scrips traded, 733 have advenced and 577 have declined.

Sterlite has moved up 1.1% to Rs 619. RCom, JP Associates and Wipro are also trading with gains.

Hindalco is down 10.1% at Rs 124.DLF, Grasim and ONGC are also trading with losses.

Sensex opens up 5 pts at 14,302; a 0.04% change

MUMBAI: Sensex could drop on Thursday as oil prices rose for a fourth day, raising the risk of higher inflation and firmer interest rates.

"We are likely to see a lacklustre day with underlying pressure that could bump the markets lower," Sandeep Shenoy, strategist at PINC Research, said.

Oil CLc1, India's biggest import, inched closer to $119 a barrel on concerns a tropical storm in the Caribbean will intensify into a hurricane as it ploughs towards U.S. oil and natural gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Trading is expected to be volatile because of the expiry of monthly derivatives contracts. The overall market rollover of stock and index futures was at 61.01 % on Wednesday.

Annual inflation in mid-August is expected to have hit 12.8 %, the highest in more than 13 years. The data is due by 6 p.m. (1230 GMT), after the market closes.

The 30-share BSE index fell 1.28 % on Wednesday to 14,296.79, its lowest close in almost a week, and is down almost 30 % so far in 2008.

Asian stocks were little unchanged, but commodity related shares received a boost from crude prices.

By 0356 GMT, Tokyo's Nikkei fell 0.17 % but MSCI's measure of other Asia Pacific stocks firmed 0.28 %. The Nifty futures SINc1 traded in Singapore was 0.02 % down.

Source : UTVi Stock Market News: Sensex down 48 pts at 14,248