Market may open slightly higher

Trading of CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 18.50 points at the opening bell. Markit Economics will unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector for August 2013 today, 4 September 2013.

IT stocks may gain on positive economic data in the US. US is the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms.

Metal stocks may edge higher as economic data in China showed growth in China's services sector hit a five-month high in August. China is the World's largest consumer of copper and aluminum.

Realty and bank stocks will be in focus after the Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday housing loans from banks to individuals should be closely linked to the stages of construction. The central bank said such loan products, popularly called 80:20 or 75:25 schemes, are likely to expose the banks as well as their home loan borrowers to additional risks. Upfront disbursals of lump sum loans should not be made in case of incomplete or under-construction housing projects, the central bank added.

Key benchmark indices slumped on Tuesday, 3 September 2013 as a sharp slide in rupee against the dollar, fears of a downgrade after Standard and Poor's reiterated that the nation's credit rating may be reduced to junk and intensifying tensions in Syria impacted sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 651.47 points or 3.45% to 18,234.66 on that day, its lowest closing since 28 August 2013.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 716.16 crore on Tuesday, 3 September 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as profit-taking emerged after strong gains earlier in the week, while renewed concerns over US military intervention in Syria weighed on sentiment. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan shed by 0.18% to 1.19%.

Growth in China's services sector hit a five-month high in August underpinned by new orders and business optimism, a private survey showed on Wednesday, adding to views that the world's second-largest economy had avoided a sharp slowdown. The Markit/HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) climbed to 52.8 in August after seasonal adjustments, up from July's 51.3 and the highest since March. The reading was well above the 50 level that demarcates an acceleration in activity from a slowdown, although a sub-index for employment shrank.

Australia's economy expanded more than economists forecast last quarter as non-dwelling construction surged, providing a stronger growth momentum for the winner of this week's election. Second-quarter gross domestic product advanced 0.6% from the previous three months, when it rose a revised 0.5%, a Bureau of Statistics report released in Sydney today showed.

US stocks rose on Tuesday as better-than-forecast economic data overshadowed concern over possible military action against Syria. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index increased to 55.7 in August, the strongest since June 2011, from 55.4 a month earlier. Readings above 50 indicate growth. Another report showed construction spending in the US increased in July to the highest level in four years, propelled by gains in residential real estate.

US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner backed President Barack Obama's call for action against Syria, while Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate's foreign relations panel agreed on a proposal backing a military strike.US President Barack Obama urged Congress to take a prompt vote authorizing military action against Syria. He announced on August 31 that he'd seek support from Congress, after previously saying he had authority to order a military mission.

Investors across the globe are eyeing the next policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) scheduled this month, with their focus squarely on the timing of tapering of Federal Reserve's bond purchases. The FOMC holds a two-day policy meeting on 17-18 September 2013 to decide on interest rates in the United States. The US central bank currently buys $85 billion a month in US debt and mortgage-backed securities in a bid to hold interest rates low and encourage economic growth. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has on several occasions stressed that the tapering process is dependent on an improvement in data. Fed's bond-buying program has kept global markets flush with liquidity in recent years.

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