Less suffering, less enjoyment

The happiest is the person who suffers the least pain; the most miserable who enjoys the least pleasure. – Rousseau. There is hardly any pleasure left in the market for the time being as market participants digest the latest quarterly earnings amid persistent worries about the murky macro-economic situation. The opening is likely to be a sedate one amid mixed global cues. Watch out for the consumer price inflation for June and Bajaj Auto results. Asian markets are indecisive, with the Hang Seng among the big losers so far. Japanese indices are trading modestly higher. US markets advanced as encouraging earnings from Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs offset disappointment over Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments. US industrial production came in better than expected as well while consumer prices remained steady. Global investors were looking for hints on QE3, but Bernanke was non-committal. Still, he hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of further monetary easing. European benchmarks closed mixed amid continued trepidation over ongoing efforts to rein in the debt crisis. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has backed Pranab Mukherjee's candidature ahead of Thursday’s presidential election. However, it remains to be seen if she will back some of the key reform measures that the Government is considering. The near-term trend remains uncertain. We maintain a cautious stance as long as the Nifty trades below 5260 levels. Main Results Today: Automotive Axle, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Holdings, CRISIL, Dunlop India, Honeywell Automation, Infotech Enterprises, Ingersoll Rand, Kirloskar Bros, Sanwaria Agro, Shalimar Paint, Somany Ceramics, Supreme Petro and Torrent Cables. Trend in FII flows: The FIIs were net buyers of Rs 4.74bn in the cash segment on Tuesday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs 2.66bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE. The FIIs were net sellers at Rs 4.16bn in the F&O segment on Tuesday, according to the provisional NSE data. The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 3.55bn in the cash segment on Monday while the Mutual Funds were net buyers at Rs 106mn, according to the SEBI figures. Global Data Watch today: BOJ Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes, Australia Westpac Leading Index (MoM) (May), china House Price Index (Jun), Japan Machine Tool Orders (YoY) (Jun), Bank of England Minutes, UK ILO Unemployment Rate (3M) (Jul), Eurozone Construction Output s.a (MoM) (May), US Building Permits (MoM) (Jun), Us Housing Starts (MoM) (Jun), Fed's Bernanke testifies and Fed's Beige Book.