BOR: Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open in positive zone today on the back of supportive performance on the global counters.

Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open in positive zone today on the back of supportive performance on the global counters. Nifty has support at 5200-5230 and resistances are at 5310-5350. Investors have to closely watch the quarterly earning performance for stock specific trades. Companies constituting the Sensex are expected to report a 18-20% growth in net profits from the same quarter last year, after four quarters of subdued growth, led by a strong sales growth of 20-25%. All eys will be on Infosys which will set in motion the Q3 quarter earnings of top companies on Tuesday.

Results today: Exide, Dhampur Sugar, Bihar tubes, Geojit BNP

Global events to watch for today:
• 4-Week Bill Announcement
• 3-Month Bill Auction
• 6-Month Bill Auction
• 10-Yr TIPS Auction

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 10618 (+11.33)
Nasdaq : 2317 (+17.12)
Nikkei 225 : 10798 (+116.6)
Hang seng : 22649 (+352.2)
SGX CNX Nifty : 5288 (+29.50)
INR / 1 USD : 45.80

On the global counter: US markets end flat; Dow up 11 points & The US markets closed flat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 11.33 points, or 0.11%, to 10,618.19. The Nasdaq was up 17.12 points, or 0.74%, to 2317.17 and the S&P 500 was up 3.29 points, or 0.29% to 1144.98.

Stocks in action for the day: Novartis, Pipavav, DLF, NTPC, REC

Bajaj Hindusthan Q1: -Standalone net sales at Rs 615.4 cr vs Rs 359.95 cr Net profit at Rs 85.2 cr vs net loss of Rs 55.9 cr Bajaj Hind -See retail sugar prices at Rs 50/kg in June-September -See cane price rising up to Rs 300 -Not in talks to buy Balrampur Chini -Doing technical due diligence of 2 South African coal mines

Divestment update: NTPC to file DRHP on January 11; NTPC FPO to hit markets in 2nd week of February REC to hit markets just before budget, issue between February 19-23 -NMDC to hit markets around March 9-12 and file DRHP on January 25

Maytas Infra: -Company received Rs 800 crore highway order from IL&FS Transport-Company plans to concentrate on oil, gas, pipeline projects -Company to present CDR proposal next week; SBI Caps Advisor Company has time till June to present balance sheet; to tap equity investors when Balance Sheet ready

FM Says: -Union Budget to be tabled in Parliament on February 26 -Unlikely that constitutional amendment bill on GST will be tabled in budget session

Bharti Says: (Akhil Gupta): -NOC for acquisition of Warid received from Bangladesh government -Working at finalizing acquisition; hope to make an announcement soon -Airtel seeing solid growth; subscriber additions at 3 million per month

British Airways to introduce $600 million IT contract by April 2010; likely to span across 6 years-Infosys, TCS, HCL, Wipro, Igate & Polaris likely bidders

Kinetic Motors:Net sales at Rs 15.7 crore & net profit at Rs 97.6 crore (change of accounting year; hence no comparable figures) -Exceptional gain of Rs 97.4 crore mainly on sale of assets

Vintage Cards Q3 -Net sales at Rs 10.7 lakh versus 37.2 lakh -Net loss at Rs 58.4 lakh versus loss of 181.9 lakh

DLF to split into 3 organizational units, Devco - to manage real estate development, Rentco – to have rent-yielding assets & Holding firm

Govt removes restrictions on import of hot-rolled steel
Govt notifies 15-month extension for sugar export obligation
Huawei eyes 3 factories of ITI
Natco Pharma to launch cancer drug as Min stays DCGI order
Pipavav Shipyard: Contract worth $36 million cancelled
Sterling international raised $26.25 million via GDR
Novartis gets patent for cancer drug Nilotinib, a superior version of blood cancer drug Gleevec

Maruti to bring new variants of Alto, WagonR & Swift: Plans for cheaper than the existing models, as it gears up to defend market leadership against global biggies Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen that are planning small car launches in India. The latest move by Maruti, which makes every second car sold in India, is aimed at queering the pitch for new entrants taking aim at the world’s largest market for small cars.

Infinite raises Rs 28 cr from nine anchor investors: The nine anchor investors include T Rowe Price International, Credit Suisse Singapore, Reliance Capital Trustee, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius, Carlson Fund India, Lloyd George Investment Management Bermuda, Alden Global Mauritius, and BATSPL.

TRAI may drop 11-digit plan, unlock 2-7 series: As against moving to 11-digit mobile numbers, telecom regulator Trai is planning an alternate solution where it will retain the current 10-digit format but open up digits 2 to 9 for mobile numbers. Currently, over 90% of the mobile numbers begin with 9 and the rest with 8.