Changing times

Sometimes, the times we can’t change end up changing us. – Anonymous. UPA, which had promised plenty but had delivered little until recently, finally decided to shun inertia and restore some credibility by unleashing a slew of ‘reforms’. The question now is whether these are the real reforms our economy badly needs? Brace for a few capital market-friendly steps to keep FIIs interested in India. Insurance, IT, Telecom and NBFCs could see some action amid reports that the Centre might ease certain rules to boost these sectors. The opening is not likely to be good though, with global cues not being supportive. Asian stock benchmark has retreated from a four-month high. US stock indices on Friday broke a two-week winning streak. European stock markets moved higher on reports Spain may be preparing the ground for a bailout request. Europe remains in the spotlight amid speculation that Spain will formally request for a bailout this week. Mind you, a bailout for Spain doesn’t resolve the crisis, but it removes an element of risk. World investors will also look forward to US economic data besides corporate commentary ahead of the earnings season. Back home, markets could turn slightly more volatile owing to Thursday’s F&O expiry. In other global news, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has been quoted as saying that Greece could be given more time to meet the fiscal goals imposed by its international creditors. Euro area nations are reportedly considering letting the bloc's permanent rescue fund leverage its capital to hit a capacity of more than 2 trillion euros and help large members if needed. The plan would have the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) operate in the same manner as its predecessor, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande over the weekend clashed on a timetable to introduce joint oversight of the region’s banking sector. Merkel rebuffed Hollande’s appeal to activate it earlier. Oil futures traded near the highest level in almost a week in New York on signs of increased tension in the Middle East. On the other hand, gold futures began the week on a softer note on Monday. The yellow metal posted a modest 0.3% gain last week. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose in 26 states of America in August, seven of which are battleground states, critical to the presidential election later this year. Indian markets rebounded last week, with a spectacular rally on Friday. The Nifty closed convincingly above the 5630 levels. The solid momentum is likely to prevail as long as the Nifty holds above 5630, with 5800 acting as the next resistance. Trend in FII flows: The FIIs were net buyers of Rs 23.27bn in the cash segment on Friday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs 11.27bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE. The FIIs were net sellers of Rs 28.16bn in the F&O segment on Friday, according to the provisional NSE data. The foreign funds were net sellers of Rs 21mn in the cash segment on Thursday while the Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs 2.04bn on the same day, according to the SEBI figures. Global Data Watch Today: BOJ Deputy Governor Yamaguchi Speech, Germany Import Price index, Germany IFO - Business Climate (Sep), UK Nationwide Housing Prices n.s.a (YoY) (Aug), Italy Trade Balance, US Chicago Fed National Activity Index (Aug), US Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index (Sep) and FOMC Member Williams speech. From this week, 51 stocks will be excluded from the NSE derivatives segment. Among them are Aban Offshore, Bajaj Hindusthan, BF Utilities, BGR Energy, Core Education, Development Credit Bank, Educomp Solutions, Essar Oil, Hindustan Construction Co, Hindustan Oil Exploration, India Infoline, Indian Oil, Jet Airways, Lanco Infratech, MRPL, MTNL, OnMobile Global, Orchid Chemicals, Polaris Financial, Praj Industries, Rolta India, S. Kumars Nationwide, Sobha Developers, Tata Coffee, TTK Prestige, Videocon and VIP industries.