Egypt unrest may lead markets to start weak

Negative mood is not likely to change today, as the domestic markets are set to start weak owing to anti-government rioting in Egypt, which disturbed world indices

Headlines for the day:

NHB sees upward bias in refinance rates

Lavasa files another plea against MoEF

SBI sets up call centres for NPA recovery



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Ex-date for interim dividend of Persistent Systems
Results: Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank, BPCL, IOC, Sun Pharma
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Indian indices

Last week, the key benchmark indices tumbled due to inflationary concerns, persistent foreign institutional (FIIs) outflows and concerns about a slowdown in economic growth. The negative mood is not likely to change today as the crisis in Egypt and potentially across the Middle East may impact the trading. Egypt unrest has disturbed the markets across the globe, keeping investors on edge. It is expected to be a rough start to the week on the Dalal Street as the global indices look worse. The Nifty is expected to start below the 5500 mark. January month has appeared to be bad for the Indian markets, with no respite from the domestic as well as external news.

After recent losses, some frontline stocks may see a rebound of sorts due to bargain hunting, but a sustained recovery looks highly unlikely.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation reported better-then-expected third quarter numbers after the market hours on Friday (January 28, 2011); stock will remain in action. Several more companies will report their quarterly earnings, buying, if any, will be rather selective.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The FIIs have sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs1,397.40 crore on January 28, 2011 as against net buy of Rs428.30 crore on January 27, 2011. The domestic investors have sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs307.70 crore on January 27, 2011.

Global signals

The European shares fell on Friday on concern growth may be crimped, as protests in Egypt escalated and a pick-up in the US consumer spending failed to excite markets in the face of a weaker-than-expected overall GDP figure.

The US stocks suffered their biggest one-day loss in nearly six months on Friday as anti-government rioting in Egypt prompted investors to flee to less risky assets to ride out the turmoil.

The Asian markets were trading weak, hit by a sharp drop in the Wall Street as riots in Egypt cause investors to flee stocks. SGX Nifty was trading 93 points lower, indicating towards a weak start on the Dalal Street.

Commodity cues

Crude oil surged the most in 16 months as unrest in Egypt raised concern that protests would spread to major petroleum producers in the Middle East.