Weak opening likely; Cairn India, Adani Enterprises, USL in focus

Benchmark share indices are likely to open marginally lower tracking mixed cues in Asia and US stocks witnessing a sharp decline on Friday.

At 8:25AM, the early indicator SGX Nifty was down 17 points at 8,298.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in Indian equities to the tune of Rs 298 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Meanwhile, oil prices continued to slide amid worries of over supplies and lack of demand . Global crude prices were trading over 5-1/2 year lows below the $50/barrel mark.

Asian stock were trading mixed with Chinese shares trading weak and the benchmark Shanghai Composite was down 1% while Hang Seng was up 0.6%. Japanese shares were trading with marginal gains up 0.2% and Straits Times was trading flat with negative bias.

US stocks snapped their two-day losing streak to end over 1% lower on Friday amid concerns about decline in wages during December 2013. The Dow Jones ended down 171 points or 1% at 17,737.37, the broader S&P 500 slipped 17 points or 0.8% at 2,044.81 and the tech-laden Nasdaq closed 32 points or 0.7% at 4,704.07.

European shares also ended lower on Friday after Spain-based Banco Santander issued fresh shares at a 10% discount to its last closing price and also reduced the dividend payout. Further weak data from Germany also dampened sentiment. Germany's industrial output slipped 0.1% in November compared to the previous month. FTSE-100 ended down 1% at 6,501.14, DAX lost 1.9% at 9,648.50 and CAC-40 ended down 1.9% at 4,179.07.

Stocks in Focus

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced Rs 100,000 crore investment across businesses in the next 12-18 months and said India was on the path to become the world's fastest growing economy.

Cairn India and Hindustan Zinc will be in focus on reports that mining baron Anil Agarwal is mulling merging cash-cows Cairn India and Hindustan Zinc into his flagship Vedanta group firm to create a global natural resources giant to rivals Rio Tinto or BHP Billiton.

Adani Enterprises will be in focus on reports that the company has tied up with Australia's Woodside Energy to source liquefied natural gas (LNG), and for oil & gas exploration and production opportunities. Further, reports also suggest that the company plans to invest Rs 25,000 crore in solar power in Gujarat.

Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering will see some action on reports that bankers have chosen the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) route to restructure its debt of close to Rs 7,000 crore, two banking sources told Business Standard.

Kansai Nerolac will be in focus ahead of the board meet on January 30, 2015 to consider stock split.

United Spirits will see some action after shareholders approved proposals to acquire a license for manufacture and sale agreements, distribution agreement, and a cost sharing agreement with certain subsidiaries of Diageo Plc.