Market may edge higher on firm Asian stocks

The market may edge higher on reports of increase in combined advance tax payment by top 100 firms and on firm Asian stocks. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicate a gain of 8 points at the opening bell.



Foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 109.50 crore and domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 139.45 crore on Monday, 20 December 2010, as per the provisional data from the stock exchanges. Foreign funds have sold stocks worth a net Rs 4,031.60 crore this month, as per data from the stock exchanges. Domestic funds have bought shares worth a net Rs 950.34 crore so far this month.

Advance tax payments by top 100 corporate taxpayers rose 18.7% to Rs 27,531 crore in Q3 December 2010 from a year ago, indicating better corporate performance in the third quarter. Advance tax is paid in four installments in June, September, December and March and is based on taxpayers' projected earnings, thus giving an indication of industry's performance in the months to come.

Asian stocks rose as risk appetite improved after tensions eased on the Korean peninsula and on broad overnight gains on Wall Street. The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia were up by 0.12% to 0.89%.