Equities head towards a soft start

Headlines for the day:

RBI stalls proposed changes to FDI policy

ONGC-OIL-Gail may counter Vedanta offer

Cairn India strikes oil, gas in K-G basin



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

Ex-date for dividend of Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco Industries
Ex-date for final dividend of Rural Electrification Corporation
For more events and news, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares rose on Monday (August 23, 2010) from the previous session's one-month low, boosted by merger and acquisition news and on gains in the mining sector on industry hopes a planned Australian mining tax could be scrapped.

The US markets slipped in one of the lightest volume sessions of the year on Monday as investors took refuge in defensive shares after the latest corporate mergers and acquisitions failed to soothe concerns the recovery is stalling.

The Asian markets were lower in their early trade, weighed by overnight Wall Street losses. SGX Nifty was trading 17 points lower, suggesting towards a soft start on the Indian bourses.

Indian Indices

The markets have been traded in a listless trend in the previous session, which slightly indicates there may be some chances of profit selling to take place.

The US markets, the world's largest economy, have been in concerns over the pace of global economic growth in recent days, which have weighed on world markets. Today, the Indian markets may start the session lower owing to the weak cues from the Asian and US markets.

In India, the market conditions are good as foreign funds are pouring money, which has led the market to a 30-month high. However, in today's session the market players are expected to remain cautious while taking any positions.

Commodity cues

The crude oil futures prices fell on Monday for a fourth straight session, slumping to a six-week low on economic concern, as the crude oil futures for October delivery declined by $0.72, to settle at $73.10 a barrel.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to remain bullish on the Indian market, as they have bought Indian equities worth a net of Rs713.80 crore on August 23, 2010, substantially lower than Rs2,655.30 crore on August 20, 2010.