Market may open slightly higher

The market may open slightly higher, tracking mostly higher Asian stocks. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 11 points at the opening bell. Punjab National Bank after trading hours on Friday, 4 January 2013, said that the bank has received all regulatory approvals including CCI for acquiring 30% stake in Metlife India Insurance Co. On closing of the transaction, the company will be rebranded as PNB Metlife India, PNB said in a statement. ING Vysya Bank after trading hours Friday, 4 January 2013, said that the Reserve Bank of India has approved increase in investment limit by FIIs in equity shares of ING Vysya Bank under portfolio investment scheme (PIS) to 30% from 24%. Power Grid Corporation of India after trading hours on Friday, 4 January 2013, said that the company's board of directors has accorded investment approval for 'Common Transmission Scheme associated with ISGS Projects in Nagapattinam/Cuddalore area of Tamil Nadu- Part-A1 (a)' project at an estimated cost of Rs 182.80 crore, with commissioning schedule of 21 months from the date of investment approval. FMCG and agri-sector stocks may edge higher after the Centre said after trading hours on Friday, 4 January 2013, said that as per reports received from different states, sowing of rabi or winter crops so far this year has exceeded the area sown by this time last year. FMCG firms derive substantial revenue from rural India. The total rabi sown area stands at 567 lakh hectares (LH) against 560.19 LH during same time last year. Sowing has picked up significantly in the last one week and is likely to remain brisk as the weather is generally favourable, the Ministry of Agriculture said after trading hours on Friday, 4 January 2013. Petronet LNG (PLL) on Sunday, 6 January 2013, said GSPC has booked a capacity of 2.25 MMPTA on a long term and firm basis in the Dahej terminal of Petronet LNG. Relevant agreements to this effect with a 20 year term were signed by Dr. A. K. Balyan, CEO and MD, Petronet LNG and Mr. Tapan Ray, Managing Director, GSPC on 5 January 2013. While a part of this capacity will be made available by PLL from its existing terminal after completion of second jetty which is currently under construction, another part will be from the expanded capacity, PLL said in a statement. PLL has embarked on an expansion of the re-gasification terminal at Dahej to increase this capacity from the present 10 MMTPA to 15 MMTPA. The expansion is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2016, PLL said. PLL and GSPC have also agreed on various other initiatives which include connecting the proposed Gangavaram Terminal of PLL with the Mallavaram-Bhilwara pipeline being built by a consortium led by GSPL, PLL said. PLL and GSPC have also agreed to co-operate in the area of supplying LNG through CNG route to cater to the demands of the transport sector in Gujarat, PLL said. Shree Cement announced on Saturday, 5 January 2013, that its cement production for the month of December 2012 stood at 9.97 lakh tons and cement dispatches stood at 10.20 lakh tons. Havells India has announced that one its promoter companies viz. QRG Enterprises which owns the brand name/trade mark 'Havells', has entered into a revised Trademark License Agreement with the company pursuant to which the brand will be transferred to the company for no consideration with effect from 1 April 2016. The existing Trademark License Agreement between the two companies is expiring in financial year 2015-16, Havells India said. Rain Commodities said after trading hours no Friday, 4 January 2013, that Rain CII Carbon LLC (Rain CII), USA, a wholly owned step-down subsidiary of Rain Commodities, has completed the previously announced acquisition of RÜTGERS N.V. (RÜTGERS), a Belgium-headquartered Coal Tar Pitch (CTP) and Chemicals manufacturer, from funds managed by Triton (Triton), after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals. Rain CII acquired 100% of the shares of RÜTGERS pursuant to an agreement with Triton for a gross enterprise value of €702 million plus certain contingent payments not exceeding €27 million during the next three years. RÜTGERS has achieved revenues of €877.4 Million and reported EBITDA of €102.8 million for twelve months ended 30 September 2012. Rain CII funded the transaction through a combination of internal cash accruals and proceeds from the issuance of senior secured notes. Rain CII issued two tranches of senior secured notes with an 8-year tenure consisting of $400 million of US dollar and €210 million of Euro denominated notes. Key benchmark indices staged recovery from intraday losses and eked out slender gains on Friday, 4 January 2013, after a survey showed that India's services sector grew at its strongest pace in three months during December 2012. The BSE Sensex advanced 19.30 points or 0.1% to settle at 19,784.08 on that day, its highest closing since 6 January 2011 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1164.41 crore on Friday, 4 January 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Indian companies will soon start unveiling Q3 December 2012 results. Investors and analysts will closely watch the management commentary that would accompany the result which could cause revision in their future earnings forecast of the company for the current year and or next year. Infosys announces Q3 results on 11 January 2013. TCS announces Q3 results on 14 January 2013. Axis Bank announces Q3 results on 15 January 2013. Bajaj Auto unveils Q3 results on 16 January 2013. Hero MotoCorp announces Q3 results on 17 January 2013. HDFC Bank unveils Q3 results on 18 January 2013. HDFC and Asian Paints unveil Q3 results on 21 January 2013. Maruti Suzuki India unveils Q3 results on 25 January 2013. Most Asian stocks rose on Monday after monthly US payrolls added to optimism in the global economic recovery. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore rose by between 0.12% to 0.28%. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea fell by 0.22% to 0.73%. US stocks edged higher on Friday, 4 January 2013, after the latest data showed that the US economy added jobs at a moderate pace in December, as expected. US payrolls rose by 155,000 workers last month following a revised 161,000 advance in November, which was more than initially estimated. The unemployment rate held at 7.8%, matching the lowest level since December 2008. Activity in the dominant US services sector perked up in the final month of 2012, while hopes grew that Europe may be through the worst of its economic slump, surveys showed on Friday. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of US service firms grew at its fastest clip in 10 months in December, boosted by a rise in new orders. The pace of hiring in the sector hit a five-month high. Global regulators gave banks four more years and greater flexibility on Sunday to build up cash buffers so they can use some of their reserves to help struggling economies grow. The pull-back from a draconian earlier draft of new global bank liquidity rule went further than banks had expected by allowing them a broader range of eligible assets. Banks had complained they could not meet the January 2015 deadline to comply with a new global rule on minimum holdings of easily sellable assets from the Basel Committee of banking supervisors and supply credit to businesses and consumers. The committee's oversight body agreed on Sunday to phase-in the rule from 2015 over four years and widen the range of assets banks can put in the buffer to include shares and retail mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), as well as lower rated company bonds. The Basel Committee also agreed to ease the "stress scenario" for calculating the amount of liquid assets banks must hold, meaning the buffer would be smaller.