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Markets are expected to open on a positive note after four consecutive day of declines. Trading may, however, be cautious as investors will wait for the central bank's policy announcement at 1100 hours today.
Most of the treasury executives and economists expect the Reserve Bank of India to highlight risks from a fragile external sector and dwell upon a high current account deficit and imported inflation due to a weak rupee in its policy review today.
At 8:20AM, the SGX Nifty was up 18 points at 5,893.
As per the technical charts, "The key momentum oscillators are still in favour of the bears, hence the index is likely to extend losses in the near term. The index may face near resistance around 5,870, and slightly higher around 5,900-5,925 odd levels."
Meanwhile Asian shares marginally rose in early trades ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy review this week.
Among the key Asian indices, Nikkei was up 0.6%, Straits Times gained 0.3% and Hang Seng was up 0.2%. Shanghai Composite was trading flat with negative bias.
Overnight US stocks ended lower on fear over dovish comments from US Fed.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 36.86 points, or 0.24 percent, at 15,521.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 6.32 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,685.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 14.02 points, or 0.39 percent, at 3,599.14.
Domestically, in the earnings calendar we have ALSTOM India, Bayer Crop Science, Dr Reddy's Labs, EID Parry, Havells India, Jindal Steel, Thomas Cook, TajGVK Hotels, Polaris Financial, NTPC and Trent set to unveil their first quarter results later today.
Following stocks are expected to move on the exchanges today:
Larsen & Toubro today won its biggest ever civil construction order worth Rs 8,250 crore ($1.4 billion), to build a metro project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The contract was won in consortium with four other global companies, and the total value of the order is around Rs 35,000 crore.
Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) today cleared Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airlines buying 26 per cent stake in Jet Airways for Rs 2,058 crore with some conditions. FIPB cleared the deal with some riders, sources attending the FIPB meeting said.
Indian Bank has got the Reserve Bank of India's nod to open three branches in Sri Lanka, apart from the two that it already has in the country's capital Colombo and in Jaffna. The new branches will come at places where the Tamil population is high.
UltraTech Cement, part of Aditya Birla group, has posted a decline of 13.5% in its net profit for the quarter ended June at Rs 673 crore compared with Rs 778 crore in the previous corresponding quarter.
Jindal controlled JSW Steel, the country's leading integrated steel maker, is exploring the possibility of establishing a steel plant in Kendrapara district in coastal Odisha. The firm has proposed to invest Rs 15,000 crore on the steel project whose exact location is yet to be decided.
