Corporate results to set market tempo

Stocks are likely to be volatile, but corporate earnings, which get into a full swing this week with heavyweight Reliance Industries' results on Thursday, will set the tone for the market.

The market fell on Friday, ignoring better-than-expected industrial production figures and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that "elections are far away".

Dealers said positive global headwinds could also boost sentiment early in the week "� key American indices Dow Jones was up 77.96 points or 0.56 per cent and Nasdaq closed higher by 33.48 points or 1.21 per cent on Friday.

They also see no signs of overseas fund flows drying up as their risk-taking ability increased following the last month's Fed rate cut. FIIs continued to buy (Rs 315.36 crore) on Friday and, in October alone, they bought a net of Rs 11,237.80 crore worth stocks in the cash segment. Domestic institutional investors were net sellers in October (Rs 4,689.66 crore).

Last week, IT bellwether Infosys Technologies' lacklustre results and the Reliance Industries' annual general meeting failed to pull up the markets as the BSE's Sensex ended at 18,419.04 points, down 395.03 points or 2.1 per cent in Friday's trading session. Broader S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,428.25, down 96.6 points or 1.75 per cent.

Dealers expect robust July-September results by RIL, whose share price has more than doubled this year. Observers fear that the rally could become stock-specific, with index stocks taking a back seat.