Indian equities head for a gap-up start

Headlines for the day:

Crompton makes $400-million bid for Emerson's transformer business

Biyani sees a Rs8,500-crore NBFC giant

Maruti restarts selling LPG WagonR in old version



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Monthly auto sales numbers to be out in first week
Monthly cement production & dispatches figures to be out in first week
Results: NMDC, India Cement, Gail
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Updates on global events

The China’s PMI came in at 51.2% in July from 52.1 in June

The US GDP for the Q2 came in at 2.4% as compared to 3.7% seen in the previous quarter.

The Chicago PMI for the month ended July stood at 67.8 as compared to 66.5 seen in the previous month.

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European stocks recovered from a sharp fall to close slightly lower on Friday (July 30, 2010), and to notch up the first monthly gain since March, with US data giving mixed signals on the economic growth.

The US stocks closed little changed on Friday, but Wall Street wrapped up its best month in a year after the earnings season rounded the final turn with a group of strong results that offset the impact of the poor economic data.

The Asian markets were higher in their early trades despite a tepid lead from Wall Street on Friday. SGX Nifty was trading 40 points higher, pointing towards a positive start on the Indian bourses.

Indian Indices

The US second quarter gross domestic product data came in below expectations, raising concerns about the pace of recovery in the world’s biggest economy. But, however, the US markets ended flat on Friday.

Tracking the positive Asian markets, the Indian indices are expected to open higher. The first quarter results season is coming to an end and the markets are upbeat backed by some good numbers and strong economic growth forecasts. Investors may remain cautious in the markets as a correction is expected after the results season, especially in the stocks where the earnings remained below market expectations.

Monthly auto sales numbers may drive demand as the automobile sales numbers will be out from today. Cement production data will also be watched closely though July-September is considered as slack season for the industry.

The major companies like India Cement, Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare, GAIL, Madras Cement, Nestle, NMDC, will declare their results today; the stocks will be closely eyed.

Commodity cues

Oil prices fell on concerns about the pace of the economic recovery, as the crude oil futures for September delivery dipped by $0.59, to settle at $78.95 a barrel.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The sustained buying from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been boosting the market sentiments and playing a crucial role on the emerging market. The FIIs bought shares worth a net of Rs4,438.40 crore on Friday.