Flat start likely on Asian cues

Headlines for the day:

Tax code blow for India Inc to soften

Mukesh Ambani eyes energy source to power UMPPs

RCap takes 18% in Bloomberg UTV



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Parabolic Drugs IPO closes today
Weekly inflation to be out today
Ex-date for bonus issue of Maithan Alloys
For more events, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares rose on Wednesday for the sixth straight session, hitting a near five week closing high, as gains in the oil sector offset Nokia slumping after it issued a profit warning.

The US stocks finished flat on Wednesday as cautious comments from FedEx and weak housing market data overshadowed a surge in industrial production.

The major Asian indices were slightly higher amid profit-taking in Tokyo and a muted finish on Wall Street except Nikkei. SGX Nifty was trading up 6.5 points.

Indian Indices

The world markets has been hit by the Euro zone debt crisis, which resurfaced after Moody’s downgraded Greece’s debt ratings. The global markets are scouting for clear direction.

Reports that Spain may need financial assistance — denied by Madrid and the International Monetary Fund — sent spreads between Spanish and German government debt to record-wide levels. The news will not have much impact on the Indian markets.

Following the Asian markets, the domestic markets are expected to open on a flat to positive note.

Advance tax numbers of the Indian Incs will continue to flow today.

Reliance group stocks, particularly the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) ones, may remain in the limelight amid relentless newsflow. Meanwhile, Reliance Industries (RIL) may see some action ahead of its annual general meet tomorrow (June 18, 2010).

Commodity cues

In the commodity space, the crude oil prices were slightly higher on Wednesday after a government report showed crude stockpiles increased more than expected and British Petroleum agreed to put $20 billion in an escrow account to pay claims from the Gulf oil spill disaster, with the Nymex light crude oil for the July series rose by $0.73 per barrel. In the metals space, the Comex Gold for the June series dipped by $3.90 to a troy ounce and the Comex Silver for the June series was down by $0.14 to a troy ounce.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

On June 16, 2010, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were the net buyers of the Indian stocks to the tune of Rs693.20 crore, whereas the domestic mutual, on June 15, 2010, were the net sellers of the stocks to the tune of Rs148 crore.