Soft start likely; RBI’s move eyed

Headlines for the day:

Telecom dept mulls MVNOs to bail out beleaguered telcos

State bank, ICICI Bank look to outsource ATM management

Sun Pharma may sue Levitt for Taro stake



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

RBI's mid-quarter monetary policy review today
India's weekly inflation to be announced today, to view the update on this, kindly log on to Sharekhan.com at 12 pm.
Career Point Infosystems IPO opens today

Updates on global events

The US industrial production for the month ended August 2010 rose by 0.2% as compared to rise of 0.6% seen in the previous month.

Pre-market report

Indian indices

The gaining momentum may just slow down for a while, as the world equities remained calm.

With the major Asian indices trading lower, the Indian equities may take a breather and start the session on a negative note. It seems that foreign institutional investors (FIIs)’ sustained buying activity has supported the Indian markets; this will not lead to a major fall on the bourses. The advance tax collections for the second quarter (July-September) of 2010-11 by India Inc is set to report another good performance today.

Going into the session, the markets are expected to remain volatile as weekly inflation readings are going to be announced later today. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to raise short-term interest rates by 25 basis points at its mid-term policy review scheduled to be held today, as inflation remains above RBI's comfort level; this will be RBI’s fifth increase this year. RBI has raised repo rates by 100 basis points this year, including twice in July.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs continued to maintain their buying spree on the higher side. The FIIs bought shares worth a net of Rs1,723.30 crore on September 15, 2010, substantially lower than Rs2,636.4 crore on September 13, 2010. The domestic investors have sold the Indian stocks worth a net of Rs662.80 crore on September 14, 2010.

Global signals

The European shares finished lower after a choppy trading session on Wednesday (September 15, 2010), with disappointing economic numbers forcing investors to stay cautious, while a sharp decline in crude prices put pressure on energy stocks.

The Wall Street advanced on Wednesday, but remained hemmed in a recent trading range as disappointing economic data hindered the S&P 500 from breaking through a stubborn technical level.

The Asian markets were trading slightly lower, though Japanese exporters continued to benefit from a weaker yen after Japanese authorities' currency market intervention on Wednesday. SGX Nifty was trading 12 points down, pointing towards a cautious start on the Dalal Street.

Commodity cues

Crude oil futures prices settled lower on Wednesday, held down by a stronger dollar and signs of a setback in US manufacturing, as the crude oil futures for October delivery dipped by $0.78, to settle at $76.02 a barrel.