Markets likely to get a soft start

Headlines for the day:

Bajaj-Renault-Nissan small car plan continues to languish

Murli Deora hints at fuel price increase

JSW Infra invites PE investments, discussions on

Oil India gets extension for most exploration licences



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Ex-date for dividend of Universal Cables, Camlin Fine, MVL
For more events, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares rose for a ninth straight session on Monday to a seven-week closing high as China's move to allow a flexible yuan raised hopes for a recovery in the global economy and boosted demand outlook for commodities.

The US shares once again succumbed to late day selling in light trading on Monday as hopes China's newfound dedication to yuan flexibility turned to doubts about the speed and magnitude of Beijing's intentions.

The Asian markets were lower in their early trade as investors took a breather after sharp gains the prior session, with demand ebbing after Wall Street pulled back on Monday. SGX Nifty was trading 16.5 points lower.

Indian Indices

After a stellar rally in the previous session, the Indian equities are likely to take a breather at start and may have a gap-down opening owing to the negative signals that are coming from the Asian markets. The sentiments turned negative on renewed concern over Europe's economic crisis after Fitch Ratings cut its debt rating on French bank BNP Paribas SA.

Volatility is expected to heighten in the run up to the June series futures and options expiry on Thursday (June 24, 2010) as traders will shuffle their bets to suit their outlook for July.

The Foreign institutional investors (FIIS) have been the main course of boosting the Indian markets. If the fund flow continues the 18000 for the Sensex and 5400 for the Nifty in the hindsight a crutial levels that will decide the future market directions. FIIs inflows improving, talks about normal monsoon, good advance tax numbers takes a back seat and all eyes will be now on US FED meet on rates that starts from tomorrow (June 23, 2010). There are expectations that Fed will keep it unchanged.

Commodity cues

In the commodity space, the crude oil prices climbed Monday, extending last week's 4.6% advance, as China's decision to allow its currency to appreciate boosted investor confidence, with the Nymex light crude oil for the July series rose by $0.64 per barrel. In the metals space, the Comex Gold for the June series dipped by $17.50 to a troy ounce and the Comex Silver for the June series was down by $0.37 to a troy ounce.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

On June 21, 2010, the FIIs were the net buyers of the Indian stocks to the tune of Rs695.40 crore, whereas the domestic mutual, on June 18, 2010, were the net sellers of the stocks to the tune of Rs45.90 crore.