Flat start on the cards

Headlines for the day:

GVK set to buy Hancock Coal

Risng crude prices: OMCs lose Rs78,000 crore

Pfizer to sell its Capsugel unit to KKR for $2.38 billion



Pre-market report

Indian indices

The markets have shown no signs of weakness as the rally was largely driven by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). However, caution ahead of earnings season may fade the recent rally. Today’s opening is likely to be on a flat note tracking unsupportive global cues.

Investors may search for fresh catalysts after a lackluster performance on the Wall Street. Overall, the picture is still bullish, but the market may take a pause because it is overbought.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have bought Indian stocks worth a net of Rs1,043.50 crore on March 31, 2011 as compared to the net buy of Rs1,500.30 crore on March 30, 2011. The domestic investors have sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs358.70 crore on March 31, 2011.

Global signals

The European equities edged up to a three-week closing high on Monday (April 04, 2011) supported by merger news, with Rhodia leading chemical stocks after Solvay's 3.4 billion euro ($4.8 billion) bid.

The S&P 500 met tough resistance on Monday, failing to break a level that has held since mid-February and ending flat even as a spate of deals and underlying strength in the economy spurred optimism.

All the major Asian markets were trading marginally lower except Straits Times. Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng indices are shut today. SGX Nifty was trading mere one point higher.

Commodity cues

Crude oil prices rose to their highest since 2008 on Monday, with Brent surging above $121 a barrel as Nigerian election delays and a short-lived strike in Gabon joined a list of geopolitical supply concerns.