Market may open lower; RIL Q3 result eyed

The market may edge lower in early trade, tracking mostly lower Asian markets. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicate a fall of 31 points at the opening bell. Reliance Industries (RIL), ITC, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Punjab National Bank (PNB) are due to report Q3 results today, 21 January 2011.



Wipro's net profit as per International Financial Reporting Standards rose 10% to Rs 1319 crore on 12% increase in total revenue to Rs 7829 crore in Q3 December 2010 over Q3 December 2009. The results hit the market before trading hours today.

As per provisional figures, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 943.91 crore and domestic funds bought shares worth Rs 256.32 crore on Thursday. Foreign funds have sold shares worth a net Rs 5593.89 in this month, as per data from the stock exchanges, with most of their selling absorbed by domestic funds. Domestic funds have bought shares worth a net Rs 4113.40 crore this month.

Most Asian stocks fell on Friday after robust Chinese economic growth prompted fears the world's second-largest economy would try to choke off excessive demand that is fueling inflation.The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea fell by between 0.08% to 2.35%. The key benchmark indices in China, Singapore and Taiwan rose by between 0.02% to 1%.

US stocks fell on Thursday as lackluster tech and materials sector earnings failed to live up to heightened expectations, threatening to short-circuit a seven-week run.

The latest data indicated that two weak spots in the US economy -- housing and jobs -- appear to be on the mend. US existing home sales jumped more than expected in December despite bad weather as the housing sector struggled to recover from a severe slump, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. The Labor Department reported that US initial jobless claims posted their biggest weekly decline in nearly a year.

Back home, food inflation moderated for the second week in a row in the early part of January after spiking to nearly a two-year peak in late December, providing some more relief to both policymakers and consumers alike. Annual rate of inflation in the sensitive Food Articles space decreased in the week ended 8 January 2011, data released by the government showed on Thursday. This was the second decline in food inflation after rising for five consecutive weeks.

Inflation in the Food Articles group fell to 15.52% in the week ended 8 January 2011 from 16.91% in the week ended 1 January 2011, the Union Commerce & Industry said today. Inflation in the Primary Articles group also declined to 17.03% in the week under review from 17.58% in the preceding week. Inflation in the Fuel & Power group remained unchanged at 11.53% in the week ended 8 January, the Commerce & Industry said on Thursday.

The wholesale price index (WPI) rose an annual 8.43% in December 2010 on higher food prices, government data showed on Friday, 14 January 2011. The annual reading for October 2010 was revised upwards to 9.12% from 8.58%.

High food prices have raised fears of further hike in policy rates by the central bank. As per a poll by Capital Market, economists widely expect 25 basis points increase each in repo rate and reverse repo rate at 25 January 2010 policy review. Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Monday, 17 January 2011, that the country is facing surging inflation and that the RBI needs to calibrate monetary policy in order to manage inflation and also support growth.