Markets head for a negative start

Headlines for the day:

Finance Minister rejects 3G refund plea

KEC International bids for US-based SAE Towers

DLF may raise Rs2,500 crore via sale of non-core assets



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Arunjyoti Enterprises to be listed today
Engineers India FPO closes today
Results: Reliance Infrastructure, BPCL, Tata Chemicals
For more events and news, log on. to Sharekhan.com

Updates on global events

The US continuing claims for the week ended July 17, 2010 stood at 4,565,000 as compared to 4,484,000 seen in the previous week.

The US initial claims for the week ended July 24, 2010 stood at 457,000 as compared to 460,000 seen in the previous week.

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares closed lower on Thursday (July 29, 2010), pressured by falls on the Wall Street and with a late sell-off in heavyweight banks offsetting upbeat results from companies including Capgemini.

The US stocks sagged in volatile trading on Thursday after weak outlooks from technology companies and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official gave investors little reason to buy.

The Asian markets were lower in their early trade after a fall on the Wall Street. SGX Nifty was trading 30 points lower, indicating towards a negative start on the Indian bourses.

Indian Indices

The global markets have been dragged down by the weak Wall Street, which may lead some concerns ahead of the US second quarter gross domestic product data later today. Following negative global cues, the domestic bourses are likely to begin lower.

The domestic markets have struggled to make their headway this week. The Sensex that managed to hold the crucial 18000 levels from last Thursday (July 22, 2010) to Tuesday (July 27, 2010) could not sustain those levels in the previous two sessions at the close.

Going in to the session, the market players are expected to remain cautious to take any fresh positions, until there are some clear directions. So far, in this week, the Sensex lost 138 points and expected to close the week on a negative note.

The major companies like Reliance Infrastructure, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Max India, Tata Chemicals, Hindustan Construction Co, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Shipping Corporation of India, Indian Hotel, Reliance Natural Resources, ABB, will declare their results today; the stocks will be closely eyed.

Commodity cues

Oil prices remain in tight range between $76 and $79 a barrel as investors balance a wave of strong corporate earnings and ongoing uncertainty about the pace of the economic recovery, as the crude oil futures for September delivery rose by $1.37, to settle at $78.36 a barrel.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs653.30 crore on Thursday, substantially higher than Rs81.60 crore on Wednesday (July 28, 2010), absorbing most of the selling by the domestic institutional investors.