Strong start likely; Rail Budget in focus

The Indian markets may extend gains today mirroring strong global peers. Railway Budget and February inflation will be eyed.
Headlines for the day
Bajaj Hindusthan to merge two arms to cut costs
Sistema may start proceedings against India after Aug 28
Panel okayed less than half of RIL's expenditure on KG-D6
COAI moves SC against TDSAT order allowing dual technology
NMDC to acquire three assets abroad by June-July



Events for the day:
Railway Budget
Inflation for February 2012
Indian indices
The sentiment got a boost after the US central bank slightly upgraded its economic outlook coupled with upbeat US data. The Federal Reserve policymakers on Tuesday left interest rates steady at record lows and made no changes to its ongoing stimulus program. The Indian markets may extend rally today inline with the strong global peers.
Today, all eyes will be on the crucial event — Railway Budget. It will be Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi’s first Rail Budget and he has already surprised the market players by hiking freight rates before the Budget. Also, inflation for the month of February 2012 will be out today. Volatility may remain high, with the markets reacting to the major events this week.
Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have been net buyers of the Indian stocks to the tune of Rs1387.30 crore on March 12, 2012. The domestic investors sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs184.70 crore on March 7, 2012. The data is as per the SEBI website.
Global Cues:
The Asian stock markets surged on Wednesday (March 14, 2012), as upbeat U.S. economic data boosted investors' risk appetite, while reduced expectations for further monetary easing from the Federal Reserve underpinned the dollar. SGX Nifty was trading 76 points higher, suggesting a strong opening for the Indian markets.
The European shares scaled to a 33-week high on Tuesday (March 13, 2012), as encouraging data from Germany and the United States signaled a recovery in the global economy, boosting appetite for riskier assets such as equities that had potential to advance further this month.
The US stocks posted its best day this year, with Tuesday's late spark coming from JPMorgan Chase & Co after the bank announced it will raise its dividend.
Commodity cues
The crude oil settled modestly higher on Tuesday, after the Federal Reserve's policy board signaled no change in its policy of keeping interest rates low.