Market seen opening lower on weak global cues

The market is likely to see a negative start on weak global cues. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a fall of 20 points at the opening bell.

After market hours on Friday, 8 July 2011, NTPC said it has priced on Thursday, 7 July 2011, $500 million fixed rate senior unsecured notes under its $1 billion MTN programme. The notes carry a coupon of 5.625% per annum payable semi annually and are due for maturity on 14 July 2021.

NTPC has also signed a loan agreement of Rs 10000 crore with State Bank of India on 7 July 2011. The rupee term loan has a door to door maturity of 12 years with a drawdown period of 4 years. The above loans shall be utilized for financing the capital expenditure of ongoing/new projects of the company, NTPC said.

The market sentiment remains firm on sustained buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) over the past few days. FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 517.33 crore on Friday, 8 July 2011, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 389.71 crore on that day

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) is reportedly scheduled to meet today, 11 July 2011 to consider the crucial Food Security Bill and allow export of food grains.

As the market enters the crucial period of corporate earnings, investors will closely watch the post-Q1 June 2011 result management commentary to gauge the future earnings outlook at a time when Indian firms are witnessing cost pressures amid rising interest rates and staff costs. A hike in transportation costs will add to cost pressure of India Inc. As per reports, freight rates have gone up by 8% to 9% on all routes across India following the recent hike in diesel prices.

IT bellwether Infosys unveils Q1 results on 12 July 2011. IT giant TCS unveils Q1 results on 14 July 2011. HDFC Bank and Ashok Leyland report Q1 results on 19 July 2011. Wipro, Dr Reddy's Lab and Exide Industries are set to announce Q1 results on 20 July 2011. Zee Entertainment Enterprises, JSW Energy and Biocon unveil Q1 results on 21 July 2011. Private sector bank Axis Bank reports Q1 results on 22 July 2011. Godrej Consumer Products reports Q1 earnings on 23 July 2011. Car major Maruti Suzuki and steel major JSW Steel are set to unveil Q1 results on 26 July 2011. Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) unveils Q1 results on 27 July 2011. Power Finance Corporation announces Q1 results on 29 July 2011.

Merchandise exports jumped 46.4% to $29.2 billion in June 2011 over June 2010, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said on Friday. Imports in June rose 42.4% to $36.9 billion. The trade gap in June almost halved from a month earlier to $7.7 billion. It was at $15 billion in May.

The government has set a target of merchandise exports of $300 billion in the fiscal year through March 2012, after shipments topped the government's estimate and rose to a record high of $245.9 billion last year.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday, 8 July 2011, said the government's revenue collections so far have been healthy and he doesn't expect any slippage in the fiscal year target of Rs 7.9 lakh crore. He said the government will conduct its market borrowing programme for the current fiscal year in a non-disruptive manner, leaving enough space for private-sector borrowers. Mukherjee was speaking at a news conference after a meeting with the chief executives of state-run banks.

Monsoon rains were 25% below normal in the week to 6 July 2011, slowing from the 10% above average rains in the previous week, the weather office said on Thursday. Rainfall in the month of July is considered crucial as sowing of a number of crops starts in June and good July rains determine the soil moisture and ensure proper development of the crops planted in June.

Asian stocks declined as U.S. unemployment unexpectedly increased, dimming the outlook for the global economic recovery and Asian exporters' earnings. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by between 0.18% to 0.97%.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, 8 July 2011, as a disappointing monthly employment report prompted investors to dial back their recent optimism about the economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 62.29 points, or 0.49%, to 12657.20. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 9.42 points, or 0.70%, to 1343.80 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 12.85 points, or 0.45%, to 2859.81.