Market may open slightly lower

The market may edge lower in early trade on mostly weak Asian stocks. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a fall of 12 points at the opening bell.

Cipla said after market hours on Friday, 2 March 2012 that company has received further demand notices from the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, Government of India for Rs 424.64 crore towards interest upto January 2012, on the allegedly overcharged amounts in respect of the same drugs which are subject matter of litigation in the Supreme Court of India. These demands are contrary to the orders of the Supreme Court of India and the company has received legal advice that entire amounts demanded by the Government are not tenable and sustainable, company said.



The company had stated in an earlier filing that it had received demand notice of Rs 1,230 crore (inclusive of interest) from the government for the period July 1995 to April 2009. The firm is currently fighting a case at the Supreme Court against the government over the issue.

Key benchmark indices closed flat on special 1-1/2 hour trading session on Saturday, 3 March 2012. The BSE Sensex settled flat at 17,636.99.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 0.50 crore on special trading session on Saturday, 3 March 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. FIIs bought shares worth Rs 442.64 crore in the first three trading sessions of March 2012. FIIs had bought shares worth a net Rs 25212.10 crore in February 2012, as per data from Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The FIIs had bought shares worth a net Rs 10357.70 crore in January 2012.

Polling for assembly elections in five states concluded on Saturday, 3 March 2012. The counting of the votes takes place tomorrow, 6 March 2012, with the results due on the same day.

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.

Finance Minister Pranab 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 edged lower on Monday, tracking mild losses for U.S. stocks on Friday, with technology and energy firms losing ground. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan shed by between 0.17% to 0.89%. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.26%.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday, 2 March 2012 cut Greece's sovereign debt rating to the lowest possible level after a debt-restructuring deal that imposes hefty economic losses for private creditors. Moody's lowered Greece's local and foreign-currency bond ratings a notch to C from Ca, becoming the third credit rating agency to downgrade the country following the announcement of the swap deal to lighten its debt burden.

European Union leaders have cleared the release of long-awaited second bailout package for debt- ridden Greece. This is to enable Greece avoid a default on paying back euro 14.5-billion debts due on March 20. Finance ministers of the euro group, during a two-day meeting in Brussels Friday, kicked off the preparations to release the first tranche of the euro 130-billion rescue package.

Meanwhile, all but two European Union countries signed a fiscal pact to tighten budget discipline on Friday, marking a coup for Germany that pushed for the accord to prevent a repeat of the loose spending that led to economic crisis. Only Britain and the Czech Republic did not sign the agreement, under which all other countries in the 27-nation bloc are to write a golden rule on balanced budgets into national constitutions or equivalent laws and automatic correction mechanisms if the rule is breached.