Sensex may open flat

Headlines for the day

Fuel price rise likely after budget, says finance ministry - Business Standard

India-made telecom gear will not need security okay - Business Line

REC FPO at Rs203 per share - DNA

Asian Hotels to split into 3 entities - Business Standard

United Bank fixes IPO price band at Rs60-66 - Business Line

Events for the day

Major corporate action:

Ex-date for interim dividend of AIA Engineering, CHL and Om Metals Infraprojects Ltd

Ex-date for final dividend of Ambuja Cements.

Ex-date for stock-split of Associated Stone Industries from Rs10/- to Rs5/-.

Man Infraconstruction Ltd IPO opens today

Weekly Inflation to be out today

Results today: Castrol India

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European stocks closed higher on thirds straight session on Wednesday on the back of strong results of BNP Paribas & ING. FTSE 100 closed 0.62% higher at 5276.74.

On Wednesday, US markets closed higher on the back of better-than-expected corporate results and upbeat economic data. Dow Jones closed higher by 0.39% at 10309.24

In today's trade, all the Asian indices are trading marginally lower. Index of China & Taiwan is closed today. At the time of writing of this report SGX Nifty trades 2 points lower.

Indian markets

Indian markets may open flat owing to mixed signals that are coming from the global markets. However, it is expected to remain volatile ahead of weekly inflation that will be declared later on the day.

Among the local indices, the Nifty could test the 4950-5000 range on the up side, while on the down side it could find support at 4850 and 4900. While the Sensex is likely to get support at 15900 and may face resistance at 16700.

Indian ADR's

Among the Indian ADRs trading on the US bourses, Tata Motor surge the most with gains of 2.45%, while Wipro fell the most with loss of 0.47%.

Commodity cues

In the commodity space, wherein the Crude oil prices recorded marginal loss, with the Nymex light crude oil for March series down by $0.30 to settle at $77.03 a barrel.

In the metals space, Comex Gold for April series rose by $0.20 to settle at $1120.00 to a troy ounce.

In the metals space, Comex Silver for March series down by $0.08 to settle at $16.07 to a troy ounce.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

On February 17, 2010, FIIs were the net buyers of the Indian Stocks in the tune of Rs257.00 crore (with the gross purchase of Rs1181.30 crore and gross sales of Rs924.30 crore).

While the Domestic mutual funds, on February 16, 2010, were the net sellers of the stocks in the tune of Rs59.00 crore (with gross purchase of Rs621.20 crore and gross sales of Rs680.20 crore).