Markets head towards a flat opening

The Indian markets are likely to begin the trade on a flat note on the back of not-so-supportive Asian cues. TCS, PFC, L&T will declare their results.

Headlines for the day:

Govt to announce multi-brand retail policy soon

Excise duty alignment with GST likely to impact SMEs

Etisalat misses Zain deal deadline, to keep trying



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Results: TCS, PFC, L&T
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Indian indices

The Indian markets have witnessed an extremely disappointing start to the year 2011, as the Sensex has plummeted over 8% in the first two weeks of the year. The Indian economy is confronting a few headwinds as of now and one needs to be careful in the near term before there is more clarity.

The markets are likely to witness a flat start following mixed Asian indices. The third quarter earnings of India Inc’s will provide some direction to the markets. The major companies announcing results are Tata Consultancy Services, Power Finance Corporation, Larsen & Toubro and Essar Oil; the stocks will remain in focus.

State-owned oil companies on Saturday (January 15, 2011) raised petrol prices by Rs2.50-Rs2.54 per litre, the second hike in a month, on back of rising crude oil prices. The oil companies' shares will remain in limelight.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have sold Indian stocks worth a net of Rs112.50 crore on January 14, 2011 as compared to the net sell of Rs98.20 crore on January 13, 2011. The domestic investors have sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs92 crore on January 13, 2011.

Global signals

The European shares ended lower on Friday (January 14, 2011) after a fresh tightening in Chinese monetary policy hit investor risk appetite, although more positive US economic and earnings data had helped pare losses by the close.

In the US, the S&P 500 ended a seventh straight week of gains with a banks-led rally amid healthy volume after encouraging financial results from JPMorgan.

The Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors remained cautious after China raised banks' reserve requirement ratio last week. SGX Nifty was trading six points up, indicating to have a flat start on the Indian bourses.

Commodity cues

Crude oil prices ended up on Friday with their best percentage gain in six weeks outweighed the impact of monetary tightening in China. Crude for February delivery gained by $0.14, to settle at $91.54 a barrel.