F&O expiry, SEBI meet and the usual

Most people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions. - Anonymous.

Multiple pressure points are at work in the markets at the current juncture. The RBI’s shock treatment is on top of the list followed by the political posturing in the US over how to manage the debt crisis. Mind you, the eurozone credit problems are not over yet.

The issue of corruption continues to haunt the markets. RBI governor D. Subbarao (he was finance secretary then) has been named in the 2G scam by former Telecom Secretary. The BJP is all set to dump B.S. Yeddyurappa after the Karnataka Lokayukta submitted its report on illegal mining.



Moderation in FII inflows is also a cause for concern. Meanwhile, SEBI’s Board will meet today to mull a number of important issues. A new takeover code and possible reopening of probe into CDSL's role in the various IPO scams are among the key ones.

The start will be soft due to a worldwide selloff linked to the US debt drama. Wall Street suffered badly overnight while European stocks too were hit. Asian markets are mostly lower as well.

The key indices will go through usual intraday gyrations associated with F&O expiry. For the Nifty, the key level to watch will be 5500 on the downside and 5600 on the higher side.

L&T Finance IPO was subscribed 50% on day one, according to reports. Micromax has withdrawn its IPO citing unfavourable market conditions. Infosys has accused its US employee of spreading falsehood on the sensitive matter of American visa.

FIIs were net sellers of Rs 129.3mn in the cash segment on Wednesday, according to the provisional NSE data. The domestic institutional institutions (DIIs) were net sellers at Rs 1.9mn on the same day. FIIs were net sellers of Rs 12.83bn (provisional) in the F&O segment.

The foreign funds were net sellers of Rs 423mn in the cash segment on Tuesday, according to the final SEBI data. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs 2.04bn on the same day.

Results Today: ACC, Ambuja Cements, Andhra Bank, Arvind, Bata India, Corporation Bank, GNFC, GSFC, HCC, HUL, IFCI, IOB, IPCA Lab, ITC, Jagran Prakashan, Jindal Steel, MRF, National Fertilizers, NMDC, ONGC, PNB, Sun Pharma, Titan, Vijaya Bank and Welcorp.

Global Data Watch: Germany's unemployment rate, EU consumer confidence, US weekly jobless claims, US pending home sales, UK consumer confidence, Japan unemployment rate, Japan CPI and Japan industrial production.