Markets likely to open lower; capital goods, ITC in focus

Markets are likely to remain in a tight range with negative bias following mixed global cues and weak core sector growth data.

Annual growth in production of the eight key infrastructure industries declined to at least a year’s low of 1.8% in January compared to 3.7% in the same month last year.

This is likely to have a negative impact on the industrial growth numbers for the month, as these industries have a weight of 38 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

The early indicator SGX Nifty was down 10 points at 8,994.

GLOBAL MARKETS

The US dollar hovered close to an 11-year high against a basket of currencies while Asian shares firmed in early trade on Tuesday, with sentiment bolstered by another record day on Wall Street.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly flat, while Japan's Nikkei stock average was up about 0.4% after the yen pushed to three-week lows against the greenback.

On Wall Street on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 both posted fresh record closing highs, while the Nasdaq Composite broke 5,000 for the first time in 15 years.

The dollar index climbed as far as 95.514 on Monday, surpassing Jan. 23's high of 95.481 to a peak not scaled since September 2003

STOCKS TO WATCH

Capital Goods shares will be under pressure as Jan core sector growth falls to a year's low.

Hotel Leelaventure, the luxury hotel chain, is to sell its Chennai and Goa properties, to reduce its debt pile of nearly Rs 5,000 crore. It has engaged JM Financial Institutional Securities for the sale.

Tobacco-to-hotel entity ITC has lost 13 per cent of its market value, or Rs 40,428 crore, since Budget day due to a sharp rise in the excise duties on cigarettes proposed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Coal block auctions hit a major milestone on Monday with the signing of agreements for the first batch of 15 blocks. However, the achievement was not without problems. In a last-minute change, eight coal blocks were withdrawn from the upcoming second phase of auctions. Even for the concluded first phase, the government has chosen not to sign agreements for three blocks won by Jindal Power, BS Ispat, and Balco.

Natco Pharma Limited, has signed a non-exclusive licencing agreement with US-headquartered, research-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences to manufacture and sell generic versions of its chronic hepatitis-C medicines.

State-owned Coal India's output for the April-February period of the ongoing fiscal was 436.96 million tonnes (MT), missing its target by 2.9%.

Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra reported 10% decline in total sales at 38,033 units in February.