Market may edge lower in early trade on weak Asian stocks

The market may edge lower in early trade on weak Asian stocks. Trading of CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 20 points at the opening bell. Asian stocks fell on Wednesday led by Japanese stocks with investors awaiting US job data later this week that may provide further evidence as to when the Federal Reserve will reduce stimulus.

Telecom stocks will be in focus as in a move that would enable big ticket mergers in the telecom sector, the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on telecom reportedly on Tuesday allowed an entity formed by merger between two or more mobile service providers to hold up to 50% of the market share in a circle.

After any merger and acquisition, they can hold two carriers of spectrum in the 3G band. Currently, operators have only one carrier of 5 Mhz 3G spectrum and are required to surrender any additional carrier they get from a merger. But in the 2G space the acquiring company will have to pay the difference between the entry fee and the auction-determined price of spectrum beyond 4.4 MHz in the GSM band and 2.5 MHz in the CDMA band, if the spectrum was originally acquired by paying the entry fee.

No separate charges will be required to be paid for spectrum acquired through auctions. This will leave 3G spectrum out of the ambit of any extra payment to the government as this spectrum was acquired through auctions.

An area which is still to be decided is whether the lock-in of three years on a new licensee from selling out should be lifted or not. The government is likely to seek a legal opinion on this. The Supreme Court had mandated that all spectrum freed up by cancellation of 122 licences post its February ruling needs to be put up for auction. The EGoM had asked the Department of Telecommunications to clarify the total quantum of spectrum available in the 1,800 Mhz band that can be sold, report said.

Bank of Baroda announced after market hours on Tuesday, 3 December 2013 that the board of directors of the bank at its meeting held on 3 December 2013, considered and approved issue of such number of equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each, for cash at a premium to be determined in accordance with SEBI (ICDR) regulations aggregating upto Rs 550 crore, on preferential basis to Government of lndia (GOl), subject to compliance of all applicable laws/ regulations & approvals. The Extra-ordinary General Meeting of the shareholders of the Bank is also fixed to be held at Vadodara on 15 January 2014, for the purpose.

Markit Economics will unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector for November 2013 today, 4 December 2013. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, rose to 47.1 in October from 44.6 in September, which was the weakest reading since April 2009.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announces next Mid-Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 18 December 2013. The Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 is scheduled 28 January 2014.

On the political front, Delhi goes to polls today, 4 December 2013. Polls for assembly election in Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram are already over. Counting of votes for assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan takes place on 8 December 2013. Counting of votes for assembly elections in Mizoram takes place on 9 December 2013.

The winter session of parliament begins tomorrow, 5 December 2013. The session will end on 20 December 2013. It will have 12 sittings in which government is likely to introduce a bill to create a separate Telangana.

Key benchmark indices edged lower on Tuesday, 3 December 2013 as Asian and European stocks dropped on speculation the Federal Reserve will soon start tapering monetary stimulus to the US economy after data overnight showed US manufacturing activity unexpectedly climbed last month. The S&P BSE Sensex lost 43.09 points or 0.21% to settle at 20,854.92 on that day, its lowest closing level since 29 November 2013.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 516.59 crore on Tuesday, 3 December 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday led by Japanese stocks with investors awaiting US job data later this week that may provide further evidence as to when the Federal Reserve will reduce stimulus. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea were down 0.06% to 2.05%. Key benchmark indices in China and Taiwan rose 0.36% to 1.39%.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the environment for economic and social development next year isn't optimistic.

US stocks declined for a third day on Tuesday, as investors assessed reports on car and retail sales before US jobs data later this week that may offer clues on when the Federal Reserve will reduce stimulus.

Investors are keeping a close watch on economic data in the United States as the Federal Reserve monitors the pace of recovery to gauge when it will begin to reduce monetary stimulus for the US economy, which has been aimed at encouraging growth. The US government will release the influential US non-farm payrolls data for November 2013 on Friday, 6 December 2013. The Fed has said improvement in the labor market is a key factor in its policy assessment.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day policy meeting on interest rates in the United States on 17-18 December 2013. The US central bank currently buys bonds worth $85 billion a month in a bid to hold interest rates low and encourage economic growth in the world's biggest economy. Minutes of the Fed's October meeting released on 20 November 2013 showed officials may reduce their $85 billion a month of bond buying if the economy improves as anticipated.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) holds a meeting in Vienna on today, 4 December 2013, to decide production quota. The OPEC is expected to assess the impact of rising US oil production and the potential return of Iranian oil barrels to the market. OPEC countries will have to accommodate any additional oil supply into the market without changes to the cartel's overall production ceiling of 30-million-barrels-a-day, Venezuela Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on 28 November 2013.

Brazil's economy contracted in the third quarter for the first time since early 2009, falling short of expectations yet again as plunging investment underscored eroding confidence in what was recently one of the world's most promising emerging markets. The economy shrank 0.5% between July and September from the prior three months, government statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday.

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