Markets likely to get a cautious start

Headlines for the day:

Wipro targets defence, govt in policy haze

RIL, Essar eye BP's Africa assets

Hinduja to invest Rs170 crore in greenfield unit



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Weekly inflation to be announced today, to view the update on this, kindly log on to Sharekhan.com at 12 pm.
F&O expiry for the month of July
Results: Federal Bank, ONGC, Bank of Baroda

Updates on global events

The US durable goods orders for the month ended June 2010 stood at (1%) as compared to (0.8%) seen in the previous month.

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares ended lower on Wednesday (July 28, 2010), bringing to an end a brisk six-day rally as an unexpected drop in US durable goods orders rekindled economic concerns and prompted investors to book recent gains.

The US stocks fell on Wednesday after weak durable goods figures and a downbeat assessment of the economy from the Fed's Beige Book kept the benchmark S&P 500 trapped below its 200-day moving average.

The Asian markets were trading mixed owing to concerns over the US economic recovery. SGX Nifty was trading 8 points lower, pointing to have a soft opening on the Dalal Street.

Indian Indices

An unexpected drop in the US durable goods orders has again revived the economic concerns, dampening the sentiments across the globe. However, taking cues from the subdued global markets, the Indian bourses are expected to have a soft opening.

Going in to the session, the markets are expected to remain volatile ahead of the derivative contracts for July, which are set to expire today. The weekly inflation readings are going to be announced later today.

The major companies like Ultratech Cement, Bank of Baroda, Great Eastern Shipping Company, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Hero Honda, Siemens, Steel Authority of India, Aban Offshore, Housing Development & Infrastructure will declare their results today; the stocks will be closely eyed.

Commodity cues

Oil drifted lower on Wednesday, continuing a slide from an 11-week high above $79 a barrel reached last week, as the crude oil futures for September delivery dipped $0.51, to settle at $76.99 a barrel.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs81.60 crore on Wednesday, substantially lower than Rs472.50 crore on July 27, 2010.