Markets head towards a soft opening

The start is expected to be in the negative terrain led by the weak Asian cues. L&T Finance Holdings IPO opens for subscription today.

Headlines for the day:

JSW nears Ispat debt refinance deal

Cognizant to acquire CoreLogic India unit for $50 million

Cairn India to seek shareholders' nod for accepting govt riders



Major corporate action

L&T Finance Holdings IPO opens today
Results: Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Dabur India, Engineers India, Gail India, HCL Technologies, IDFC, Lupin
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Indian indices

The trading on the Indian bourses is expected to open on a soft note tracking negative Asian markets, weighed by the continuing stalemate over raising the US debt ceiling. However, the investors may remain jittery as banks have hinted at increasing base rates, which will hike interest cost for corporates as well as individuals going ahead.

L&T Finance Holdings is set to open its initial public offering for subscription today. The company is going to raise about a Rs1,092 crore out of total issue size of Rs1,245 crore.

Companies scheduled to report quarterly results today include Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Dabur India, Engineers India, Gail India, HCL Technologies, IDFC, Lupin, Marico, Oil India, Uco Bank, Ultratech Cement; stocks will be eyed.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have bought Indian stocks worth a net of Rs240.30 crore on July 26, 2011 as compared to the net buy of Rs1840.30 crore on July 25, 2011. The domestic investors have bought Indian shares worth a net of Rs5.90 crore on July 25, 2011. The data is as per SEBI website.

Global signals

The European markets fell on Tuesday (July 26, 2011), knocked lower by a raft of disappointing earnings, while rising yields at Italian and Spanish debt auctions reignited investors' worries over the euro zone debt crisis.

The stalemate in US debt talks dragged down stocks for a second day on Tuesday, and light volume showed investors remained reluctant to make bets despite another round of healthy earnings.

The Asian markets were trading in the red on Wednesday (July 27, 2011) tracking a decline on the Wall Street. SGX Nifty was trading 8 points higher.

Commodity cues

Crude oil prices edged up on Tuesday, lifted by a weak dollar while markets were buffeted by the continued stalemate over the US debt ceiling that hemmed in Wall Street.