Market may open flat to slightly lower

Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a fall of 6.50 points at the opening bell. Asian stocks edged higher.

The domestic stock markets remained shut on Thursday, 8 March 2012, on account of Holi.

Shares of MCX, India's largest commodity exchange, will debut on the bourses today, 9 March 2012 after having got an overwhelming response to its initial public offering. The offering was priced at Rs 1032 a share.

Key benchmark indices dropped for the third straight day to reach their lowest level in more than five weeks on Wednesday, 7 March 2012. The BSE Sensex lost 27.77 points or 0.16% to settle at 17145.52, its lowest closing level since 30 January 2012.



Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 504.59 crore Wednesday, 7 March 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. FIIs had sold shares worth Rs 241.23 crore on Tuesday, 6 March 2012.

In a recently concluded assembly elections in five states, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) hopes for a revival in India's most populous state were dashed as Uttar Pradesh's 12.73 crore voters rallied behind the Samajwadi Party (SP) to hand it a stunning victory over Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party. Winning 224 seats, the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party is set to form the government in the state with a comfortable majority in the 403-member assembly. Punjab went back to the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, the first time in more than 40 years that a party got a second consecutive term, with 68 seats against the Congress' 46 in the 117-member house. In Manipur, it was the Congress which overcame anti-incumbency to sweep the polls. The BJP took control away from Congress in the western tourist hub of Goa, winning 21 seats out of 40 constituencies.

In the northern state of Uttarakhand, Congress eked out a one-seat victory over the BJP. One of them needs to cross the halfway mark of 35 in order to form the government in the state. The Congress being the single largest party has an edge.

India's services sector lost momentum in February and firms shed workers for the first time in three months despite growing more confident about the year ahead, a business survey showed on 5 March 2012. HSBC's Business Activity Index, compiled by Markit and based on a survey of around 400 firms, fell to 56.5 in February from 58.0 in January. The employment sub-index slipped below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the first time since November, reflecting similar trends in the factory sector during the month. The confidence index regarding future business inched up to a new eight-month high of 71.7 in February from 71.2 in January.

The government is working with state governments for early implementation of a goods and services tax (GST), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on 22 February 2012.

Mukherjee will present the annual budget for 2012/13 on 16 March 2012, while the railways budget will be presented on 14 March 2012. The budget session of parliament will start on 12 March 2012. The government will present on March 15 the Economic Survey for 2011/12, a document on the state of economy prepared by the economic division in the ministry of finance. The annual budget is usually presented on the last working day of February. However, the budget has been delayed this time due to the assembly polls.

Reports indicate that the finance ministry is considering a proposal to increase excise duty from 10% to 12%, although still lower than the level before the 2008 financial crisis. The move is aimed at helping the government improve its fiscal situation but it is expected to push up the cost of almost all manufactured goods from food products to consumer durables and automobiles.

Asia markets climbed on Friday, with exporters and resource firms gaining, after data showed Chinese inflation cooled slightly and amid optimism for Greece's crucial debt-swap. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose by between 0.02% to 1.55%.

Reports late Thursday said Greece had completed the crucial debt-swap with private creditors, which would avert a straight bond default and a fresh wave of financial distress across the euro zone.

China's annual rate of consumer inflation slowed sharply to a 20-month low of 3.2% in February, comfortably within Beijing's 2012 target of 4%, giving policymakers room to further loosen monetary policy to support slowing growth.

U.S. stocks rose for the second straight day on Thursday as a deadline for private bondholders to exchange Greece-issued debt passed with what looked to be adequate participation, removing an obstacle to Greece's second bailout.