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Friday, March 12, 2010

Market likely to open flat


Indian equities are likely to open flat on Friday, Mar. 12, 2010. SGX Nifty is trading at 5,144.50 (8.04 a.m.), 15.50 points lower than Thursday`s closing of 5,129.

Asian stocks rose, as the yen weakened on speculation Japan`s central bank will loosen monetary policies. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 rose 41.78 points, or 0.39%, to trade at 10,706.73.

US stocks Thursday helped the market extend its grind higher to a third day. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.51 points, or 0.42%, to 10,611.84. It is down 1.1% from its recent high in Jan. 19.

Among Indian ADRs, Sterlite Industries (1.64%), Patni Computer Systems (1.28%), I C I C I Bank (1.17%), Infosys Technologies (0.28%) were major gainers. On the other hand, Wipro (0.04%), H D F C Bank (0.15%), Dr Reddy`S Laboratories (0.23%), Satyam Computer Services (0.55%) were major losers.

European stocks declined from a seven-week high as U.S. jobless claims fell less than forecast and basic-resource producers retreated on speculation rising inflation will prompt China to pare back stimulus measures. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 23.31 points, or 0.41%, to end at 5,617.26.

Oil prices stayed put, just above USD 82 on Thursday, as investors mulled demand uncertainties and a government report that showed the country`s huge natural gas reserves shrank a little last week. Benchmark crude for April delivery rose 2 cents to settle at USD 82.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In the spot market, the Dollar Index dropped 0.016% to 80.31. It touched a high of 80.33 and a low of 80.25 after opening at 80.28. (21:27 ET)