Sensex may open higher

Headlines for the day

India Inc pays 20% more advance tax on strong showing - Business Line

Mahindra Yueda rolls out plans for China - Business Line

Zee Entertainment mulls ETC Biz recast - DNA Money

TVS Motor plans 200cc motorcycle - Business Standard

WWIL targets townships for HITS expansion - Business Standard

Events for the day

Major corporate action:

Ex-date for dividend of Centrum Capital, Emami, Fedders Lloyd Corporation, GHCL, LGS Global, RR Financial Consultants & Sharon Bio-Medicine.

Ex-date for final dividend of Triveni Engineering & Industries.

Ex-date for Scheme of Arrangement of Emami Ltd & Zandu Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Ex-date for stock split of Kanani Industries from Rs10 per share to Rs5 per share.

Ex-date for consolidation of shares of Firstobject Technologies Ltd

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European stocks were closed strong on Monday as banking stock recovers its recent losses and buying in energy stock. FTSE 100 closed 1.87% higher at 5294.

On Monday, the US markets were closed positive after a healthcare reform bill advanced in the Senate. Nasdaq hitting a 15-month high and closed the day at 2238, 26 points higher.

In today's trade, all the Asian indices are trading with gains except Shanghai Composite that trading marginally lower by 0.12%. At the time of writing this report, SGX Nifty is trading 33 points higher.

Indian markets

On the back of positive & strong signals coming from the global market, the domestic indices are expected to open higher and may remain strong.

Among the local indices, the Nifty could test the 5000-5050 range on the up side, while on the down side it could find support at 4900 and 4920. While the Sensex is likely to get support at 16500 and may face resistance at 17000.

Indian ADR's

Indian ADRs trading on the US bourses showed the mixed trend, among gainers HDFC Bank surged the most with gains of 1.77%. On other hand Tata Communications fell the most by 5.54%

Commodity cues

In the commodity space, wherein the Crude oil prices recorded marginal loss, with the Nymex light crude oil for January series down by $0.81 to settle at $72.55 a barrel.

In the metals space, Comex Gold for February series fell $15.50 to settle at $1096.00 to a troy ounce.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

On December 21, 2009, FIIs were the net sellers of the Indian Stocks in the tune of Rs83.40 crore (with the gross purchase of Rs2234.80 crore and gross sales of Rs2318.20 crore).

While the Domestic mutual funds, on December 17, 2009, were the net seller of the stocks in the tune of Rs27.20 crore (with gross purchase of Rs707.40 crore and gross sales of Rs734.60 crore).