Market may open higher on firm Asian stocks

The market may open higher on firm Asian stocks. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicated that the Nifty could gain 11 points at the opening bell. Asian stocks rose for a third day on Tuesday, 20 November 2012 after U.S. housing data boosted optimism that the world's largest economy is recovering. Metal stocks will be in focus as LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange jumped 2.25% on Monday, 19 November 2012. Infosys announced at the fag end of trading session on Monday, 19 November 2012, the launch of a new solution called "India in a Box" for its Japanese clients. The new solution is based on industry-standard Microsoft Dynamics NAV. It enables Japanese companies to jumpstart their business operations in India in a shorter time by moving to a robust IT infrastructure in just eight weeks. The pre-packaged solution is tailor-made for the unique Indian market, addressing issues such as local taxation and accounting. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to remove ABB from trading in the futures & options (F&O) segment. F&O contracts in ABB for new expiry months will not be issued on expiry of existing contract months, NSE said in a circular issued on Monday, 19 November 2012. The existing unexpired contracts of expiry months November 2012, December 2012 and January 2013 would continue to be available for trading till their respective expiry and new strikes would also be introduced in the existing contract months. Key benchmark indices ended on a mixed note on Monday, 19 November 2012 as the barometer index BSE Sensex eked out small gains and the 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty declined marginally. The BSE Sensex rose 29.63 points or 0.16% to settle at 18,339 on that day, its highest closing level since 15 November 2012. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1.52 crore on Monday, 19 November 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Asian stocks rose for a third day on Tuesday after U.S. housing data boosted optimism that the world's largest economy is recovering. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea rose by between 0.13% to 0.95%. The Bank of Japan ends a two-day policy meeting today, 20 November 2012, and is expected to refrain from taking fresh policy steps. Foreign direct investment in China fell for the 11th time in 12 months as labor costs rose, a slowdown threatened to drag growth to a 13-year low and a territorial dispute with Japan weighed on trade. Investment dropped 0.2% in October from a year earlier to $8.31 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said in Beijing today. U.S. stocks rallied Monday, notching their best session in more than two months, on upbeat housing data and increasing confidence that a U.S. budget deal would be reached. Sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly climbed in October, data showed yesterday. Existing U.S. home sales increased 2.1% to a 4.79 million annual rate, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed. National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence climbed to 46 in November from 41 the previous month. The fiscal cliff refers to the year-end deadline for the expiration of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tax cuts and the triggering of $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts, if the US Congress fails to act. The US Congress created the hazardous deadline of 31 December 2012 in August 2011 when it agreed to a deficit deal as a way out of a deadlock over raising the US debt ceiling. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to deliver a speech in New York today, 20 November 2012, about economic recovery and the monetary policy. Euro-zone finance ministers at an extraordinary meeting scheduled today, 20 November 2012, are expected to reach an agreement on the next disbursement of a loan to Greece, whose debt and budget troubles have rocked markets world-wide over the past few years. Moody's Investors Service on Monday lowered France's sovereign rating by one notch to Aa1, stripping the country of its coveted triple-A rating. “France's long-term economic growth outlook is negatively affected by multiple structural challenges, including its gradual, sustained loss of competitiveness and the long-standing rigidities of its labor, goods and service markets,” said Moody's in a statement. The ratings agency also expressed concern over France's uncertain fiscal outlook and noted that its resilience to future euro-shock is becoming more difficult to predict. The rating outlook remains negative.