Markets head towards a cautious start

The Indian markets are likely to witness a cautious start tracking negative world markets, which have been hit by the renewed concerns over the euro zone debt crisis

Headlines for the day:

Emission norms triggered Honda exit

Tariff-based bidding for power projects from Jan 5

Hindustan Tin eyeing Rs315 crore turnover



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Zee Learn, Claris Lifesciences to be listed today
Ex-date for stock split of Balkrishna Industries
Ex-date for interim dividend of ONGC
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Indian indices

The renewed worries over the euro zone debt crisis have hit the markets across the globe. After gaining in the previous week, the Indian markets may take a pause and start the session on a cautious note tracking negative world markets.

However, the Indian markets have been struggling in the absence of fresh leads and are also heavily dependent on foreign fund inflows. The Indian markets, which have seen a record foreign inflows since the beginning of June, is witnessing a trend reversal.

The equity shares of Claris Lifesciences will be listed today. The issue price was fixed at Rs228 a share, at lower end of price band of Rs228-235 a share.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have sold Indian stocks worth a net of Rs10 crore on December 16, 2010 as compared to the net buy of Rs94.30 crore on December 15, 2010. The domestic investors have sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs297.90 crore on December 15, 2010.

Global signals

The European shares fell on Friday (December 17, 2010), with banking shares decline after Moody's slashed Ireland's credit rating, sparking renewed worries about the euro zone debt crisis.

The S& P 500 and Dow were slightly lower on Friday on renewed concerns over euro zone debt, but the Nasdaq stayed in the green on some positive corporate results in the tech space.

The Asian markets were trading lower, as renewed geopolitical tensions on the Korean peninsula hurt shares in Asian region. SGX Nifty was trading mere one point higher, suggesting towards a quiet start on the Indian markets.

Commodity cues

Crude oil prices rose on Friday in seesaw trading and posted a weekly gain on back of supportive US economic data. The crude oil futures for January 2011 surged by $0.32, to settle at $88.02 a barrel.