Market may extend recent strong gains on firm Asian stocks

The market may extend recent strong gains on firm Asian stocks. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a gain of 30.50 points at the opening bell. Marico, RCF and Corporation Bank announce Q3 results today, 2 February 2012.

Strong cues from European market aided rally in Indian stocks on Wednesday, 1 February 2012. The BSE Sensex jumped 107.03 points or 0.62% to settle at 17,300.58, its highest closing since 9 November 2011.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1676.49 crore on Wednesday, 1 February 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. FIIs made substantial purchases of Indian stocks last month. FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 10357.70 crore in January 2012, as per data from Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi).



India's largest motorcycle maker by sales Hero MotoCorp recorded 11.5% growth in sales to 5.20 lakh units in January 2012 over January 2011. Commenting on the performance, Anil Dua, Senior Vice-President (Marketing & Sales), Hero MotoCorp said, "We have made a good beginning to the new year with our January performance. We are pleased with the trend of five lakh-plus unit sales every month for the past six months, and we are confident of building further on these numbers".

Mahindra Satyam announced after market hours on Wednesday that consolidated net profit rose 29% to Rs 308 crore on 9% growth in revenue to Rs 1718 crore in Q3 December 2011 over Q2 September 2011.

The Supreme Court will reportedly give its verdict today whether 2G spectrum licences granted to several companies in 2008 should be revoked, in the latest judgement in one of the country's biggest-ever corruption scandals. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said, of the 122 zonal licences issued in the 2008 grant process, 85 licensees, including the local units of Telenor and Etisalat, were not eligible to get them as they had suppressed facts or given false information to gain lucrative telecom permits. The court will rule on a petition by non-governmental organisations and some individuals seeking the cancellation of the licences, which they say were given out in an arbitrary manner and as many companies were later found ineligible by the state auditor.

The 3rd quarter earnings season is at its peak. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Power Finance Corporation and Hindustan Copper report Q3 results tomorrow, 3 February 2012. Hindustan Unilever, National Aluminium Company and India Cements announce Q3 results on 6 February 2012.

Mahindra & Mahindra and GMR Infrastructure unveil Q3 results on 7 February 2012. ONGC, Power Grid Corporation of India and Tech Mahindra unveil Q3 results on 8 February 2012. Tata Steel, Hindalco, ACC, Ambuja Cements and HPCL unveil quarterly results on 9 February 2012. Tata Power, BPCL, Britannia Industries, Sun TV Network and Neyveli Lignite Corporation unveil Q3 results on 10 February 2012. JSW Steel announces consolidated Q3 results on 10 February 2012. The company has already announced its stand-alone results.

Aditya Birla Nuvo and Ashok Leyland announce Q3 results on 11 February 2012. Indian Oil Corporation, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries and Steel Authority of India (Sail) unveil Q3 results on 13 February 2012. Tata Motors and Shipping Corporation of India unveil Q3 results on 14 February 2012. Ranbaxy Laboratories announces Q4 December 2011 results on 23 February 2012.

India's manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in eight months in January 2012 as factory output surged the most on record on increased domestic and foreign demand, a survey showed on Wednesday. The HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), compiled by Markit, jumped to 57.5 from 54.2 in December. The factory output sub-index jumped to 62.9 in January from 55.8 in December, the biggest rise from one month to the next on record. Both the output and the new orders indexes rose to their highest level since May last year.

India's trade deficit widened to $12.7 billion in December from $8.0 billion a year earlier as export growth slowed due to falling global demand. But imports, specially in the non-oil segments, continued to grow. For the April-December period, the trade gap was $133.2 billion, compared with $96.2 billion a year earlier. India's merchandise exports in December grew 6.7% from a year earlier to $25.0 billion while imports rose 19.8% to $37.7 billion.

The government on Tuesday, 31 January 2012, lowered slightly its estimate of the country's growth in gross domestic product for the last fiscal year ended 31 2011, to 8.4% from 8.5%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), last week, took liquidity easing measures by cutting the cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirement for banks by 50 basis points to 5.5% from 6% at Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2011-12. The central bank said that as a result of the reduction in the CRR by 50 basis points, around Rs 32000 crore of primary liquidity will be injected into the banking system. The central bank said the large structural deficit in the system presents a strong case for injecting permanent primary liquidity into the system.

The RBI kept its key lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged at 8.5%. RBI has cut the baseline projection of GDP growth for 2011-12 to 7% from 7.6%. The growth-inflation balance of the monetary policy stance has now shifted to support growth, while at the same time ensuring that inflationary pressures remain contained, the central bank said.

The reduction in CRR can be viewed as a reinforcement of the guidance that future rate actions will be towards lowering interest rates, RBI said. However, the timing and magnitude of future rate actions is contingent on a number of factors, RBI said. In the absence of credible fiscal consolidation, the Reserve Bank of India will be constrained from lowering the policy rate in response to decelerating private consumption and investment spending, it said. The forthcoming Union Budget must exploit the opportunity to begin this process in a credible and sustainable way, the RBI said.

The budget for 2012/13 ending March will be presented after elections scheduled in five states, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on 2 January 2012. Polling for assembly elections in five states concludes in early March 2012. The annual budget is usually presented on the last working day of February.

Seven-phase polling for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh begins on Saturday, 4 February 2012.

Asian shares gained on Thursday as global manufacturing data soothed fears about global economies deteriorating on the back of the ongoing euro zone debt crisis, while falling European debt yields also improved sentiment. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore rose by between 0.23% to 1.31%. A technical glitch affected trading in Japan.

US stocks scored gains on Wednesday after manufacturing data showed growth and the market buzzed with speculation that Facebook would soon announce its market debut. After the closing bell, Facebook filed for an initial public offering potentially worth $5 billion.

The Institute for Supply Management said its index of US national factory activity rose to 54.1 in January, the strongest pace in seven months, while the ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added 170,000 jobs last month, the smallest gain in three months but in line with forecasts. The US government labour market report is due on Friday.