Views on markets today

- Indian markets opened positive yesterday following cues from Asian markets. However, profit booking dragged it down and it closed negative amidst volatility. Metals, IT and FMCG witnessed selling pressure.

- Market breadth was negative at 0.9x. FIIs were major buyers yesterday, buying equities worth Rs41bn. Domestic institutions too bought equities worth Rs1bn.

- While trading volumes on NSE increased from Rs155bn to Rs161bn, the steep jump in BSE volumes, from Rs49bn to Rs97bn, is attributable mainly to DLF, which saw volumes of 179.8mn shares. The deliverable volumes for top 10 traded stocks on the NSE increased moderately to 26.2% while on the BSE it went up to 74.7% on huge deliverable volumes in DLF. The stock saw a volume of Rs42bn on the BSE.

- Asian markets are down today after the weak close of the US markets. Exporter stocks are down on the rising yen. The Hang Seng is down on selling pressure in banking and telecom stocks.

- We expect a weak opening for the Indian markets following cues from global markets. However, volatility would continue ahead of the declaration of election results.

Key event
Inflation data for the week ended May 2 to be announced (0.7% for the week ended April 25).

Economic and Corporate Developments

- The rupee (INR) weakened to 49.96/98 per USD, lower than yesterday's close of 49.71/72.

- NYMEX Crude Oil (CL) is currently trading at $57.67 per barrel.

- India added around 9mn GSM mobile users in April 2009, taking the GSM subscriber base to 297mn. Bharti Airtel remained market leader with a 34.5% market share, followed by Vodafone Essar with a 24% share.

- The Government will go ahead with New Exploration and Licensing Policy VIII and open the data room for prospective bidders on May 20.

- SBI announces a further reduction in deposit rates, the 3rd such move in the last 45 days. It has reduced term deposit rates by 25-50 basis points across maturities. This should help improve its net interest margins.

Buzzing Stocks

- ONGC will invest about Rs90bn over the next 3-4 years to enhance oil and gas output as part of phase II redevelopment of its Mumbai High field on India's Western Offshore.

- Pantaloon Retail’s same-store sales in April grew the most in 6 months because of strong consumer demand. Same-store sales in the value retailing segment grew 7.02%. Sales in the lifestyle segment grew 6.03% to Rs119.53Cr. Sales in the home retailing segment fell 28.21% to Rs34.57Cr.

- Educomp Solutions has bagged a Rs83.8Cr order from Gujarat government to introduce computer aided learning for 8,50,000 students of government run schools of the state.

- The promoters of Suzlon Energy raised $47mn by selling 30mn shares (2% stake) at Rs77 each.

- DLF is selling 66% stake in Hindoostan Spinning and Weaving Mill in central Mumbai to a Chennai-based entrepreneur for Rs310Cr.

US markets
US markets slip sharply by 2.2% dragged down by financials. HSBC, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase were among the key losers. Treasury bills gained ground indicating that the recovery may not be as smooth as some expected. Bad news from the retail sales front and record foreclosure filings knocked stocks off their uptrend for another day. Shares of retailers slid 3.3%. Retail giant Wal-Mart finished with a loss, but outperformed the broader market on a relative basis. The company is scheduled to announce its latest quarterly results today morning.

Economic data
- Retail sales fell for the second straight month, down 0.4% in April amid weak gasoline and electronics sales.
- Business inventories declined 1% in March, compared with a 1.4% drop in February.

Key events today
- Producer Price Index
- Weekly Initial Jobless Claims