Mumbai, Aug 8 : With the annual inflation crossing the 12 per cent mark for the first time in 13 years for the week ended July 26, the 30-share Sensex, benchmark of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) fell by 117 points at 14,999.92 in early trade today after heavy selling by funds.

National Stock Exchange (NSE)''s Nifty fell 31 points to 4492.95. The index touched a high of 4540.75 and low of 4480.80 so far.

Inflation has more than doubled since late February mainly on soaring oil prices, prompting the Reserve Bank India to tighten the annual monetary policy aggressively.

Indian stock markets closed on a positive note, on Thursday (August 7), touching an intraday high of 15,280.06 and an intraday low of 14,992.97 ahead of inflation numbers for the week ended July 26.

Buying and selling action was witnessed in some of the selected stocks. Consumer durables, realty, auto, IT, banking traded positively, whereas capital goods, power and oil stocks went down.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index closed positively after gaining 0.45% and 0.32% respectively.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened lower Friday on overnight falls in the US market.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dipped 74.03 points, or 0.56 per cent, in morning trading to 13,050.96.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 10.96 points, or 0.87 per cent, at 1,247.85.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.33-38 yen, down from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 109.44-46 yen.

New York - Major US stock indices tumbled Friday as an unexpected loss from American International Group and a Citigroup Inc legal settlement drove down financial shares, while bargain retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc forecast slower sales growth.

AIG late Wednesday reported 5.36 billion dollars in second-quarter losses related to the subprime mortgage crisis, sending shares 18 per cent lower in trading on Thursday. Investors speculated that the insurer would have to raise extra capital to overcome the heavy losses.

Wellington - The New Zealand stock market fell on Friday after the biggest listed company Telecom reported a 15-per-cent drop in annual profit as it faced increasing competition and rising costs.

Telecom shares quickly dropped more than 8 per cent after it posted an annual profit of 713 million New Zealand dollars (about 513 million US dollars), down from 844 million New Zealand dollars the previous year.

Bangkok  - Thai shares jumped 4.1 per cent in value Thursday in response to falling world oil prices and an influx of foreign funds, brokers said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index ended at 703.87, up 27.52 points or 4.1 per cent.

Brokers attributed SET's dramatic rise, which was not seen on other Asian markets Thursday, to an influx of investments from hedge funds and short-term buyers.

"Our market is always a bit out of sync with others," said Mongkol Phuanpaetra, an analyst at Adkinson Securities. "I think investors were buying for short-term gains today."