Markets may witness a weak start

Headlines for the day:

Tax code only from 2012

NTPC moves to secure fuel supply for power plants

Infosys plans extreme offshore model to tide over visa crisis



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

India’s quarterly GDP (YoY) to be out today
ACIL Cotton Industries board to consider stock split
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Updates on global events

The US Personal Income for the month ended July 2010 stood at 0.2%

The US Personal Spending for the month ended July 2010 stood at 0.4%

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares ended slightly lower on Monday (August 30, 2010) as concerns about the global economic recovery weighed on investor sentiment, outweighing support from merger and acquisition news.

The US stocks fell in the year's lightest volume on Monday as worries about the pace of economic recovery overshadowed data showing a rise in consumer spending and income.

The Asian markets were trading lower, following Wall Street overnight losses. SGX Nifty was trading 41 points down, indicating towards a negative start on the Indian bourses.

Indian Indices

Even though in the previous session the Indian markets eked out some modest gains after Friday’s (August 27, 2010) sharp cut, it is again expected to fall in today’s trade. The bulls will have to be a little more patient as the external situation remains gloomy. The global markets have been shaky as worries about the pace of US economic recovery still persist.

Following the weak Asian markets, the Indian indices are likely to begin lower. Today, all eyes will be on the economy’s gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the April-June quarter. According to the estimates, GDP is expected to grow by 8.8%. Even if the GDP growth data springs a surprise, it may cheer the markets a bit. However, the market players may be worried as a higher-than-expected economic growth raises the probability of sharper rate hikes by the central bank. This may lead the markets to remain rangebound with a negative bias.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has forayed into hospitality sector yesterday. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Private Limited, it has acquired 14.12% in EIH for a total cost of Rs1,021 crore. So, stocks specific action will be seen in RIL and EIH.

Commodity cues

Oil prices slipped on Monday as investor unease about a stalled economic recovery weighed on equities and energy markets and a slightly stronger dollar helped oil break a string of three days of gains.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) switched to selling mode again owing to concerns over the global recovery making the investors jittery. FIIs sold Indian equities worth a net of Rs32.80 crore on August 30, 2010, as compared to net buyers of Rs156.60 crore on August 27, 2010.