Sensex set for a gap-down start

Headlines for the day:

Coal India eyes Rs15,000 crore mop-up from IPO

Rural Electrification Corporation to issue zero-coupon, infra bonds

ONGC to invest Rs8,800 crore in Mumbai High redevelopment



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Commercial Engineers & Body Builders Company to list today
Prestige Estates Projects IPO closes today
Coal India IPO opens today
Results: Bajaj Finserv, Sesa Goa, Essar Oil, HDFC and L&T
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Indian indices

The domestic markets are expected to begin the session in the red, extending previous session’s losses, tracking negative Asian markets. The domestic markets are likely to remain range-bound, with investor sentiment cautious ahead of the quarterly earnings.

All eyes will be on the initial public offering (IPO) of Coal India, as it is set to open for subscription today. The company plans to raise up to Rs15,000 crore in the country’s biggest share sale, may also cast a shadow by drying up liquidity. If the IPO succeeds in attracting investors, it is likely to trigger gains.

There is a new listing on the bourses today, Commercial Engineers & Body Builders Company, with an issue price of Rs127 a share, at higher end of price band of Rs125-127 a share.

Bajaj Finserv, Sesa Goa, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) will declare their results today; the stocks will be closely eyed.

The BSE and the NSE have decided to implement ‘pre-market call auctions’. This is a special 15-minute trading window starting at 9 am from today. The main aim is to enable better price discovery in the market at the opening bell.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have bought Indian stocks worth a net of Rs2,894.20 crore on October 15, 2010 as against net buy of Rs3,100.40 crore on October 14, 2010. The domestic investors have sold Indian stocks worth a net of Rs399.40 crore on October 14, 2010.

Global signals

The European shares edged up on Friday (October 15, 2010) after the US Federal Reserve’s Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that more stimulus was on the way and the US retail sales beat forecasts.

A blowout quarter from Google sent the Nasdaq up over 1% on Friday, while uncertainty surrounding major banks' exposure to foreclosure losses dragged the Dow lower.

The major Asian markets were trading lower. SGX Nifty was trading 17.5 points down, pointing to have a negative opening on the Dalal Street.

Commodity cues

Crude oil prices fell as the US currency climbed for a second day after rebounding from the lowest level since January, as the crude oil futures for November delivery declined by $1.74, to settle at $81.25 a barrel.