Sensex may begin on a positive note

Headlines for the day:

Ambani duo in grab for power

Reliance Industries finds more gas in K-G basin

Government to allot 3G spectrum today



Events for the day:

Major corporate action

India's export & import data for July
Monthly auto sales and cement dispatches numbers to be out from today
Aegis Logistics board to consider stock split
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Updates on global events

The UK Net Consumer Credit for the month ended July 2010 stood at 0.2 billion.

The US Consumer Confidence for the month ended August 2010 stood at 53.5

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European shares edged higher on Tuesday (August 31, 2010), helped by a rise in US consumer confidence data, though gains were limited by fears for economic recovery, with the market recording its worst monthly decline since May.

The US markets ended mixed in the choppy trading session on Tuesday, closing out an August the bulls would like to forget.

The Asian markets were trading slightly higher except Shanghai Composite rebounding from the previous session’s losses. SGX Nifty was trading 20 points up, pointing to have a positive start on the Dalal Street.

Indian indices

The Indian indices fell in the previous session (last day of August) to a seven-week low due to weak global clues. The impressive GDP data also could not lift the markets.

Today, on the first day of new month (September), the markets may begin with a positive bias, tracking the firm Asian cues. However, overall the investors may remain cautious and focus on the upcoming data later through the day.

The data include HSBC Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index for August, monthly auto sales and cement dispatches numbers, which may provide some direction to the markets. This may keep the auto and cement stocks in focus.

The government will start allotting third generation (3G) spectrum from today to the successful bidders, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone Essar, among others. The investors may keep an eye on the telecom companies’ shares.

Commodity cues

US crude prices fell on Tuesday as concerns about stalled economic growth, as the crude oil futures for October delivery dipped by $2.78, to settle at $71.92 a barrel.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have pumped in significant liquidity into the Indian markets. FIIs bought Indian equities worth a net of Rs272.70 crore on August 31, 2010, as compared to net sellers of Rs32.80 crore on August 30, 2010.