BOR: Market Outlook: Indian markets may have positive opening today on the back of encouraging cues from overseas shores.

Market Outlook: Indian markets may have positive opening today on the back of encouraging cues from overseas shores. This week would be very important for the Indian stock market as we have the Feb F&O expiry on Thursday and the Union Budget on Friday. Nifty has supports at 4800-4830 and resistances are at 4950-5000.

Global Events to watch for today

• 4-Week Bill Announcement
• 3-Month Bill Auction
• 6-Month Bill Auction
• 30-Yr TIPS Auction

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 10402 (+09.45)

NASDAQ : 2243 (+02.16)

Nikkei 225 : 10434 (+310.5)

Hang seng : 20409 (+515.9)

SGX CNX Nifty : 4924 (+76.00)

INR / 1 USD : 46.47

On the global counter: US stocks, dollar gain as views change on rate hike & Asia trading higher; Nikkei up 3%, Hang Seng up 2.3%. Stocks on Wall Street closed out their best week of the year after a zig-zag session as investors weighed the Federal Reserve decision late Thursday to raise its discount rate for banks by one-quarter percentage point to 0.75 percent.

Stocks in action for the day: Renuka Sugars, Ambuja, Ranbaxy, Cipla & SpiceJet

Renuka Sugars buys Brazil’s Equipav SA for Rs 1,530 cr: Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd on Sunday announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with Brazilian company, Grupo Equipav for an investment of Rs 1,530-crore ($ 329 million) for a majority controlling stake of 51 per cent, a top company official said here.

Rel Media makes counter bid for Fame at Rs 83.40 a share: Anil Ambani-led Reliance MediaWorks on Sunday made a public offer to buy an additional 52.48% stake in the multiplex chain operator Fame India for about Rs 180.14 crore, countering an existing takeover bid by rival Inox Leisure.

Ambuja lines up Rs 3,500 cr to expand capacity to 24 mt: The country’s third-largest cement maker, plans to spend around Rs 3,500 crore to expand its capacity to 24 million tonnes (mt) from the current 19 mt by year-end to meet strong demand from the infrastructure sector.

Prices of antibiotics may flare up 50%: A government proposal to slap anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Mexican imports of two key pharma ingredients will push up the prices of common antibiotics like Mox, Augmentin and Sporidex by almost 50%, say their makers. Ranbaxy’s Mox, GSK’s Augmentin and Cipla’s Novamox), among others, will increase by 50%, while cephalosphorin-based brands (FDC’s Zif, Ranbaxy’s Sporidex and GSK’s Phexin) will grow by 35-40%.

Bharti lines up $9 billion from banks for Zain deal: Bharti Airtel has lined up funds aggregating $9 billion from a string of foreign and local banks for its proposed acquisition of the African assets of Kuwait-based Zain Telecom, as it settles to finance the entire deal through debt in the first phase, a move which may not place any undue strain on the Indian telecom company’s balance sheet.

NMDC to pay USD 2.5 bn for 50% stake in Ferrous` Brazil ops: State-owned NMDC is set to pick up 50% stake in the Ferrous Resources Brazilian operations for USD 2.5 billion, marking the first overseas foray by India`s largest mining company. NMDC has signed the non-disclosure agreement with the Ferrous group, a multinational consolidator of iron ore with properties in several countries, such as the US, Brazil and Canada, said two senior executives familiar with the development. Under the proposed deal, the Ferrous group will issue fresh shares worth USD 2.5 billion to NMDC over the next few years. The funds will be used for developing mines and building infrastructure, said a senior executive who was part of the negotiations.

Bulls eye easy route to exit Lokesh Machines: Lokesh Machines counter are trying to exit their positions by spreading rumours that a leading automobile player may be looking to buy out its auto component division. The stock had touched a 52-week high of Rs 59 on January 18 this year, but has been drifting lower ever since.

Govt begins process to restrict fresh FDI in tobacco sector: The government has begun the process of restricting fresh foreign investment in the tobacco sector as it would like India to be seen as a responsible country, conscious about its people's health.

RIL produces gas worth $1.5 bn from D6 fields: Reliance Industries-operated D6 gas field in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin has produced more than 10 bn cubic meters of natural gas worth over $1.5 bn in the first 10 months, a senior official in the oil ministry said. RIL commenced gas production from its KG-D6 on April 2, 2009.

Baring may acquire 15% in Famy Care: Baring Private Equity Partners (India) is the front-runner to buy about 15% stake in Mumbai-based drugmaker Famy Care for around $40 million, or Rs 185 crore, a person familiar with the matter said. Privately-held Famy Care is one of the world’s largest maker of oral contraceptives pills.

Low-cost airlines plan fleet expansion, step up hiring: Thanks to the economic revival, the Indian aviation industry has taken off again, overcoming fears of being grounded for long by the threat posed by last year’s slowdown. The massive growth in past two months, led by December’s record figure of 33% and January’s 23%, has led to airlines again looking at expanding their fleet and stepping up on the hiring front. We like SpiceJet as its fleet size will rise from 19 to 25 by year-end . The airline will also qualify for flying abroad this summer. It is now in the process of raising money to fund the expansion plan.