Markets set for a flat opening

The start on the Dalal Street is expected to be flat tracking unsupportive Asian markets; the Indian markets are likely to trade rangebound for a while

Headlines for the day:

Tata abstains from backing Rio offer

Banks oppose granting new licences to business houses

Strides to increase stake to 94% in Ascent



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Ex-date for bonus issue of Chartered Logistics
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Indian indices

The Indian markets have been running out of triggers and this has led the markets to trade rangebound. The trading volumes have eased off ahead of Christmas and year-end. Foreign institutional investors (FII) inflows have tapered off though domestic funds have been select buyers.

Though the Indian markets have witnessed some sort of decline, but it has not been cracking much. It seems that markets are in no mood to spoil the Christmas party. Today’s start on the Dalal Street is expected to be flat tracking unsupportive Asian markets. The Indian markets are expected to trade sideways as the indecisive global markets are not helping either.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have sold Indian stocks worth a net of Rs23.70 crore on December 23, 2010 as against net buy of Rs224.60 crore on December 22, 2010. The domestic investors have bought Indian shares worth a net of Rs361.80 crore on December 21, 2010.

Commodity cues

Oil surged above $91 a barrel to its highest price in more than two years on Thursday, as OPEC member Libya's apparent lack of concern over prices prompted some analysts to call for a new year's run at $100.

Global signals

The European shares on Thursday (December 23, 2010) pulled back from a 27-month high touched earlier in thin pre-Christmas trade, though Britain's FTSE 100. FTSE topped the 6000-mark for the first time since June 2008.

The US stocks racked up a fourth straight week of gains on Thursday, as investors expected optimism about the economic recovery to support equities through year-end.

The major Asian markets were trading lower. SGX Nifty was trading merely two points down, indicating to have a flat start on the Indian bourses.