Markets set to open higher

Headlines for the day:

RIL refuses to obey order on gas allocation

Fortis promoters pledge more shares

Indian Oil Corporation mulls another refinery on west coast



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Hindustan Media Ventures to be listed today
Super Tannery board to consider sub-division today
Results: Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Updates on global events

The US Building Permits for the month ended June 2010 stood at 2.1% as compared to (5.9%) seen in the previous month.

The US Housing Starts for the month ended June 2010 stood at (5.0%) as compared to (14.9%) seen in the previous month.

The UK M4 Money Supply for the year ended June 2010 stood at 3% as compared to 2.7% seen in the previous month.

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European stocks ended mostly unchanged on Tuesday (July 20, 2010), pausing after a one-week losing run as mining stocks rallied along with metal prices in late session, offsetting disappointing results from US companies.

The US stocks rose for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, led by gains in shares of Goldman Sachs and strength in beaten-down homebuilders and raw materials companies.

The Asian markets were trading in the positive zone following a modest rise on the Wall Street. SGX Nifty was trading 32 points higher, indicating towards a positive start on the Indian bourses.

Indian Indices

After opening negative in the previous two sessions, the Indian indices are expected to open higher today. The global cues are quite supportive and may bring some momentum.

In the last couple of days, the Nifty and the Sensex traded near their crucial levels of 5400 and 18000 respectively and are also seen trading above those levels. However, the indices have failed to sustain those levels at the close because of some niggling worries.

There is a new listing on the bourses, Hindustan Media Ventures, a subsidiary of newspaper publisher HT Media. Its issue price has been fixed at Rs166 per share while the price band was at Rs162-175 per share.

Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Thermax, Rural Electrification Corporation and Alstom Projects India will declare their results today; the stocks will be closely eyed.

Commodity cues

The oil prices rose for the second straight session on Tuesday, as crude oil futures for August delivery rose $0.90, to settle at $77.44 a barrel.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their fund flow in the Indian markets, which have been the main supporter for the markets. However, the fund flow has been slowed down in the last session. The FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs203.90 crore.