BOR: Market Outlook: Indian markets is likely to witness a weak start today as global cues continue to weigh sentiment.

Market Outlook: Indian markets is likely to witness a weak start today as global cues continue to weigh sentiment. Nifty has support at 4766-4800 and resistances are at 4930-5000.

We have almost well done with the result counters for the Dec09 quarter, Revenue growth of the Sensex companies has regained (in double digits) after four straight quarters of sub 10% increase over the corresponding year-ago periods. The real push to bottomline performance is coming from lower interest cost, which has shrunk after eight straight quarters of double-digit increase. The group of 29 Sensex firms (ACC has not disclosed its quarterly results) to have announced results for the three months period ended December 2009 have reported total net profit (adjusted for one-time extraordinary items) growth of 20%, the best in at least two years.

Global Events to watch for today

• 2-5-7 Yr Note Settlement
• Personal Income and Outlays
• ISM Mfg Index
• Construction Spending

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 10067 (- 53.13)

Nasdaq : 2147 (- 31.65)

Nikkei 225 : 10158 (- 39.08)

Hang seng : 19975 (- 146.9)

SGX CNX Nifty : 4860 (- 26.50)

INR / 1 USD : 46.37

Stock in action for the day: Wipro, PFC, Gitanjali, Ashok Leyland, Sun Pharma & Educomp Solutions

Wipro, GE pact may open gates for $1-billion deal: ndia’s third-biggest software exporter Wipro has been empanelled by General Electric as one of the outsourcing vendors as part of a master services agreement (MSA) signed between the companies recently.

Actis to sell stake in Nilgiris Dairy Farm: Private equity fund Actis has decided to sell its stake in Nilgiris Dairy Farm as an escalating dispute with the southern retail firm’s former promoters threatens to derail the company’s plans and harm the private equity fund’s over Rs 300-crore investment.

PFC to raise USD 300 million through ECB: State-owned PFC, the financial institution for lending to the power sector, will soon tap the global debt market to raise USD 300 million.

Lodha gets Sebi nod for Rs 2,790-cr IPO: Mumbai-based realty firm Lodha Developers has received market regulator Sebi’s approval for its Rs 2,790-crore initial public offer (IPO) by diluting up to 15% from its post-issue paid up capital., which is expected to hit the market in the next four to five weeks.

Electrotherm races ahead with Yobykes: Electrotherm India (EIL), makers of Yobyke and India’s largest manufacturer of electric battery operated two-wheelers is in race with Yobykes a rival brand.

Educomp Solutions in action on better Q3 numbers The company's Q3 consolidated net profit was up at Rs 61.2 cr vs Rs 31.8 cr. Its consolidated net sales were up at Rs 260.1 cr vs Rs 189.5 cr.

Punj Lloyd bags Rs 1100cr highway EPC contract;

Gitanjali Gems Q3 net profit at 39 pc: Gitanjali Gems, the flagship company of Gitanjali Group has posted 39 percent jump in net profit at Rs 41 crore in the third quarter of 2009-10. The company's jewellery sales turnover rose by 60 percent to Rs 1,098 crore in Q3 FY 10

Ashok Leyland net zooms 450%: Hinduja group flagship Ashok Leyland (ALL) posted a spectacular performance in the third quarter ended December 31, 2009, with a 450% jump in net profit at Rs 104.6 crore against Rs 18.9 crore in the same period in the previous year. Net sales spurted by 81% to Rs 1815.5 crore (Rs 1,004.5 crore).

Sun Pharma profit falls 17% on losses from US operations: Sun Pharmaceuticals, the country’s most valued drugmaker in the stock market, on Friday said it has taken a series of steps to mitigate and resolve its ongoing problems with the US drug regulator Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), even as its profit fell 17% to Rs 339 crore for the quarter ended December over the year-ago period due to losses in its US arm.

Suzlon Energy, the world`s third largest wind turbine maker, swung to profit in third quarter of financial year 2009-10. During the quarter, it posted consolidated profit of Rs 141 million as against loss of Rs 648.70 million in the same period last year. It reported a drop of 19.52% y-o-y in consolidated revenues to Rs 55.90 billion.

Delhi-based Unitech, India`s second-largest real estate developer, reported a rise of 29.37% y-o-y in consolidated net profit to Rs 1.76 billion for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2009. It posted a growth of 57.65% y-o-y in consolidated revenues to Rs 7.74 billion.

Pune based Thermax, a leading in energy and environment solutions provider, reported a 21.84% y-o-y drop in standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 2009 to Rs 565.07 million. Total income for the quarter fell 5.17% to Rs 7,556.12 million, when compared with the prior year period.

Videocon Industries disclosed a 2.18 times jump y-o-y in standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 2009 to Rs 1.32 billion. Total income for the quarter rose 35.07% to Rs 28,103.80 million, when compared with the prior year period.

Shipping Corporation announced a 52.84% y-o-y drop in standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 2009 to Rs 874.40 million. Total income for the quarter fell 18.27% to Rs 9,822.40 million, when compared with the prior year period.

Q3 performance of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies: Reliance Communications (RCom) registered a drop of 21.43% y-o-y in consolidated net profit to Rs 11.08 billion for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2009. The nation`s second largest telecom service provider reported a fall of 9.24% y-o-y in consolidated revenues to Rs 53.10 billion.Reliance Infrastructure announced a 10% y-o-y rise in net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 to Rs 2.77 billion. Total operating income stood at Rs 22.87 billion, registering a y-o-y drop of 15.86%. Reliance Capital reported a drop of 52% y-o-y in consolidated net profit to Rs 631.80 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2009. The nation`s third largest private sector financial group (in terms of net worth) reported a y-o-y fall of 6% in consolidated revenues to Rs 14.85 billion