Markets likely to start flat

Headlines for the day:

Tata Motors may issue DVR shares

Essar, IOC bid for Shell outlets, BPCL in talks

SEBI may double limit for retail investors



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

India's weekly inflation to be announced today, to view the update on this, kindly log on to Sharekhan.com at 12 pm.
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Updates on global events

The US MBA Mortgage Applications for the week ended August 13, 2010 stood at 13% as compared to 0.6% in the previous week.

The Euro-zone Construction Output for the month ended June 2010 stood at 3.1% as compared to (6.2%) in the previous month.

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares slipped on Wednesday (August 18, 2010) to close under a key resistance level, with oils weak as crude CLc1 fell on US demand concerns, while BHP Billiton dropped after a hostile bid for Potash.

The Wall Street rose on Wednesday, led by gains in consumer stocks after a sales forecast from discounter Target Corp temporarily quelled concerns about consumer demand.

The Asian markets were modestly higher, following the modest Wall Street gain. SGX Nifty was trading 3 points higher, pointing towards a flat start on the Indian markets.

Indian Indices

After the two days of fall, the Indian markets rebounded in the previous session on firm global cues.

Owing to the current global scenario, the US markets ended with modest gains and Asian markets are also in the same line, which may lead the Indian markets to open on a flat note. However, the global cues are not so supportive that it may provide some momentum to the Indian markets. The markets may be seen trading range-bound.

Going into the session, the weekly inflation numbers are to be announced today, which will be closely eyed by the markets players. If the inflation rises, the investors may be worried that the Reserve Bank of India may raise interest rates in its mid-monetary policy review scheduled next month.

Commodity cues

Crude-oil futures on Wednesday slid after a report showed a sharp increase in petroleum inventories in the United States, as the crude oil futures for September delivery declined by $0.35, to settle at $75.42 a barrel.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

Foreign funds have bought Indian equities worth a net of Rs515.90 crore on August 18, 2010, substantially lower than Rs558.40 crore on August 17, 2010.