Markets may open higher

Local market may open higher led by positive global cues. Marketmen are keenly awaiting Q4 and full year March 2008 results from Indian corporates. Robust corporate advance tax payments in Q4 March 2008 indicate that corporate profit growth will be strong in the quarter. Advance tax figures showed banks, hospitality and software firms are doing better than sectors like automobiles and cement.

However, the sharp rise in inflation has been a cause of concern, which has now risen above the Reserve Bank of India’s caution limit of 5%. India's wholesale price index surged to 13-month to 6.68% in the 12 months to 15 March 2008, surging from the previous week's rise of 5.92%, government data showed on Friday, 28 March 2008.

Asian markets were trading mixed today, 1 April 2008. Hang Seng (up 1.21% at 23,124.70), Japan's Nikkei (up 1.75% at 12,744.87), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.76% at 3,030.25) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 0.36% to 1,710.08) rose. Shanghai Composite (down 2.96% to 3,369.99), and Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.47% at 8,532.01), declined

US markets ended higher yesterday, 31 March 2008, after a plan for regulatory overhaul raised hopes for calmer financial markets. The Dow Jones industrial average added 46.49 points, or 0.38%, to 12,262.89. The S&P 500 index rose 7.48 points, or 0.57%, to 1,322.70, and the Nasdaq Composite index gained 17.92 points, or 0.79%, to 2,279.10.

Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 726.85 points or 4.44% at 15,644.44 on Monday, 31 March 2008, following reports of change in accounting norms, requiring Indian companies to disclose losses arising out of derivative contracts. The broader based S&P CNX Nifty plunged 207.50 points or 4.20% at 4,734.50 on that day. The Sensex gained 2572.34 points or 19.67% in the financial year 2008, from its close of 13072.10 on 30 March 2007 while Nifty rose 912.95 points or 23.88% from its close of 3821.55 on 30 March 2007, during the same period.

As per provisional data, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 865.79 crore yesterday, 31 March 2008. Domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 566.03 crore on that day.

FIIs were net sellers of Rs 1,662.41 crore in the futures & options segment on Monday, 31 March 2008. They were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 1,472.69 crore and sold index options worth Rs 13.70 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 186.15 crore and bought stock options worth Rs 10.13 crore.

Meanwhile, the current account deficit in India’s balance of payments (BoP) has widened despite higher growth in income from software services and a strong growth in remittances by the Indian diaspora. The current account deficit which is derived from cross-border transactions of goods and services, widened to $5.4 billion during the quarter ended December 2007 on account of a bloated import bill caused by higher oil prices and industrial offtake.