Flat start on the cards

The Indian markets may open on a flat note led by mixed global peers. SGX Nifty is trading 0.50 points higher. Events for the day: Ex date for stock split of VTM. Ex date for final dividend of Bharti Airtel and Gail India. Headlines for the day: RIL proposes to drill KG-D6 probe well at own cost. GAIL eyes stake in Russia's planned LNG plant. CCI allows merger of India Securities with Essar Capital. Indian Indices: The Indian markets may begin the trade on a flat note tracking mixed global cues. SGX Nifty is trading 0.50 points higher. Jupiter Infomedia, a web infomedia company with online publications on business, encyclopedia and yellowpages, will list its equity shares on BSE SME platform today. On Tuesday (August 14, 2012), the Sensex settled at 17728, up by 94 points while the Nifty closed at 5380, rising by 32 points. Global Indices: Asian stock markets steadied on Thursday (August 16, 2012) as the investors took the sidelines, waiting for more clues over the timing and extent of any further stimulus to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis and support global growth. European shares ended flat on Wednesday (August 15, 2012), consolidating after a recent strong rally and held back by weaker mining stocks after downbeat results from Eurasian Natural Resources. US stocks finished the day roughly flat as investors juggled an unexpected contraction in domestic manufacturing activity and a mixed batch of corporate earnings. Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities: The FIIs have been the net buyers Indian stocks to the tune of Rs361.60 crore on August 13, 2012. The domestic investors sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs66.00 crore on August 13, 2012. The data is as per the SEBI website. Commodity Cues: Oil prices surged to their highest level in three months on Wednesday following a report of a steep drop in US oil stockpiles and fresh tensions in the Middle East.