Key benchmark indices are poised for lower opening today dampened by latest economic data which showed India's wholesale price index rose to a 16-year high. Global cues were mixed.
Inflation as measured by wholesale price index rose 12.44% in the week to 2 August 2008, a 16-year high propelled by rise in the cost of pulses, fruits, spices and aviation turbine fuel. Inflation increased at a rate of 12.01% in the previous week. Inflation is expected to accelerate further after the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet on 14 August 2008 approved an average 21% salary increase for about 50 lakh government employees. The higher wages will cost the government Rs 3.38 lakh crore this year.
The Prime Minister added that various steps are being taken to bring inflation under reasonable control. He blamed the surge in prices to a 16-year high this month on higher global costs of fuel and food.
Meanwhile the Finance Ministry allowing private sector managed provident fund and superannuation trusts to have greater exposure in the stock markets, may boost the sentiment. They can invest up to 15% of their investible funds in shares on which derivatives are available in the BSE or NSE.
US light crude for September delivery rose 23 cents to $114 a barrel today, 18 August 2008 as investors eyed the potential supply threats Tropical storm Fay poses to oil and gas production from the Gulf of Mexico.
Asian markets were trading lower today, 18 August 2008. China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.65% or 40.42 points at 2,410.19, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.41% or 87.44 points at 21,073.14, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted lost 1.27% or 91.65 points at 7,104.85, Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.21% or 5.82 points at 2,791.68, South Korea's Seoul Composite dropped 0.21% or 5.82 points at 2,791.68. However, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.77% or 231.06 points at 13,250.47
US markets ended mixed on Friday, 15 August 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 43.97 points, or 0.38%, to 11,659.90. The S&P 500 index gained 5.26 points, or 0.41%, to 1,298.20. However the Nasdaq Composite index declined 1.15 points, or 0.05%, to 2,452.52.
Back home, the BSE 30-share Sensex declined 368.94 points or 2.44% to 14,724.18 and the S&P CNX Nifty fell 98.35 points or 2.17% to 4430.70 on Thursday, 14 August 2008. Stock exchanges were closed on Friday, 15 August 2008, on account of Independence Day.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net equity sellers worth Rs 573.98 crore while mutual funds purchased shares worth Rs 23.32 crore on Thursday, 14 August 2008, according to provisional data on NSE.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs 675.88 crore in the futures & options segment on Thursday, 14 August 2008. They were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 859.46 crore and purchased index options worth Rs 379.44 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 223.28 crore and purchased stock options worth Rs 27.43 crore.
Inflation as measured by wholesale price index rose 12.44% in the week to 2 August 2008, a 16-year high propelled by rise in the cost of pulses, fruits, spices and aviation turbine fuel. Inflation increased at a rate of 12.01% in the previous week. Inflation is expected to accelerate further after the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet on 14 August 2008 approved an average 21% salary increase for about 50 lakh government employees. The higher wages will cost the government Rs 3.38 lakh crore this year.
The Prime Minister added that various steps are being taken to bring inflation under reasonable control. He blamed the surge in prices to a 16-year high this month on higher global costs of fuel and food.
Meanwhile the Finance Ministry allowing private sector managed provident fund and superannuation trusts to have greater exposure in the stock markets, may boost the sentiment. They can invest up to 15% of their investible funds in shares on which derivatives are available in the BSE or NSE.
US light crude for September delivery rose 23 cents to $114 a barrel today, 18 August 2008 as investors eyed the potential supply threats Tropical storm Fay poses to oil and gas production from the Gulf of Mexico.
Asian markets were trading lower today, 18 August 2008. China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.65% or 40.42 points at 2,410.19, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.41% or 87.44 points at 21,073.14, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted lost 1.27% or 91.65 points at 7,104.85, Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.21% or 5.82 points at 2,791.68, South Korea's Seoul Composite dropped 0.21% or 5.82 points at 2,791.68. However, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.77% or 231.06 points at 13,250.47
US markets ended mixed on Friday, 15 August 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 43.97 points, or 0.38%, to 11,659.90. The S&P 500 index gained 5.26 points, or 0.41%, to 1,298.20. However the Nasdaq Composite index declined 1.15 points, or 0.05%, to 2,452.52.
Back home, the BSE 30-share Sensex declined 368.94 points or 2.44% to 14,724.18 and the S&P CNX Nifty fell 98.35 points or 2.17% to 4430.70 on Thursday, 14 August 2008. Stock exchanges were closed on Friday, 15 August 2008, on account of Independence Day.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net equity sellers worth Rs 573.98 crore while mutual funds purchased shares worth Rs 23.32 crore on Thursday, 14 August 2008, according to provisional data on NSE.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs 675.88 crore in the futures & options segment on Thursday, 14 August 2008. They were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 859.46 crore and purchased index options worth Rs 379.44 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 223.28 crore and purchased stock options worth Rs 27.43 crore.
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