Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open in positive ground

Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open in positive ground and see profit booking attempts in the upper regions. The crucial support on the downside for the Nifty is 5720 and resistance at 5860.

Global events to watch:

Þ MBA Purchase Applications

Þ Empire State Mfg Survey

Þ Import and Export Prices

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 10526 (- 17.64)

NASDAQ : 2289 (- 04.06)

Nikkei 225 : 9470 (+171.0)

Hang seng : 21719 (+23.30)

SGX CNX Nifty : 5820 (+03.50)

INR / 1 USD : 46.37

Stocks in action for the day: Tata Coffee, Punj Lloyd, Unitech, Titagarh, UBL, RIL...

Ispat says -Lenders selling out to other companies is baseless-No default in payments to the lenders, no risk of the company becoming an NPA-Conversion of debt to equity is a standard norm prevalent in the industry

Tata Steel -To buy 80% interest in Direct shipping Ore (DSO) project -To arrange Canadian Dollar 300 million funds for Canada project -JV to produce 4 mt/year of iron ore products from 2012 -To reimburse 80% of NML's cost to date on DSO Alert : Direct Shipping Ore is proj of Canada's New Millennium (NML)

Wockhardt shareholders approve ((Postal Ballot approves, earlier board had approved)) Preferential issue of Rs 40 crore via Preference Shares -Issue of FCCB's in exchange of existing FCCB's

Ashok Leyland Analyst meet -Demand for CV remains robust, market share up from 17% in Q1FY10 to 27% in Q1FY11 -Faster recovery in multi axle vehicle space and South India markets—both of which are strong segments for the company -Guidance maintained with positive bias-Emission norm costs to be passed on

RPG Group to acquire 10% in Resource Generation for USD 10.5 million; Resource Generation is Australia-based coal supplier

United Breweries to merge JV co, arms with itself The Vijay Mallya-led beer companies United Breweries will merge joint venture firm Millennium Alcobev and other subsidiary companies with itself. The firm will also create a trust called the UBL Benefit Trust to hold the treasury stock of UB arising out of the merger. Millennium Alcobev is a joint venture between UB and Dutch brewer Heineken. It consists of three operating companies with breweries across Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Together, it accounts for 10% of India`s total brewing capacity, UB said. Millennium manufactures UBL`s brands on a contract basis and its subsidiaries owns regional brands such as Kalyani Black Label and Marco Polo.

Cairn India AGM to seek investors` nod on Vedanta deal Cairn India, the local oil exploratory unit of UK-listed Cairn Energy, is scheduled to seek shareholders` approval to Vedanta Resources` bid to acquire a controlling stake in the company, at an annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on Wednesday. The AGM will also put up for shareholder approval, Vedanta`s open offer to the minority shareholders for acquisition of an additional 20% in Cairn India, in line with SEBI norms. The Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta Resources had offered USD 8.48 billion to buy the Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy`s 40-51% stake in Cairn India, which owns 10 oil assets in the country including the giant Rajasthan oilfield. The oil assets are held jointly with state-owned ONGC.

RIL seeks revision in gas price by USD 1 per mmBtu India`s largest gas producer Reliance Industries has written a letter to the Petroleum Ministry this week seeking a revision in gas price from its Krishna Godavari block by USD 1 per mmbtu from current USD 4.2 per mmbtu, say sources. Among the reasons cited by the company is that as the cost of production is rising, customers are ready to pay higher price of gas. The difference between the domestic gas price and imported gas price is still over USD 2 per mmbtu. Also the government appointed price of USD 4.2 per mmbtu from RIL`s KG basin was set for a period of five years with a crude oil price of USD 60 per barrel as benchmark. But the crude oil price has risen to over USD 75 per barrel already. Reliance Industries spokesperson declined to comment.

BoB to take over suspended Memon Co-op Bank Bank of Baroda will take over the assets and liabilities of Memon Co-operative Bank - the bank which had been facing moratorium since May 2009. The takeover will come as a major relief to the depositors of the co-operative who were barred from withdrawing more than Rs1,000 from their savings and current account. Bank of Baroda will pay full deposit amount to all depositors once the scheme of takeover is approved by RBI. This is the second time a PSU bank has bailed out the depositors of a co-operative bank. In the past, Indian Overseas Bank had acquired assets and liabilities of Pune-based Suvarna Sahakari Bank. On Tuesday, the bank informed stock exchanges that it has received RBI and government approval to take over the assets and liabilities of Memon Co-operative Bank.

Essar to bid for gas blocks in Indonesia London Stock Exchange-listed Essar Energy Plc plans to bid for coal-bed methane (CBM) and shale gas blocks in Indonesia next month. The company will also bid for similar assets in China at the end of this year, a company official said. ``This would be our first international foray into unconventional resources. Indonesia opens its CBM blocks auction next month and we would be bidding for the same. We would seek approval of the Essar Energy Plc board for the same,`` said S R Agarwal, director and CEO, Essar Exploration and Production India . Essar Energy has five CBM blocks in India - Raniganj (West Bengal), Rajmahal (Jharkhand), Sohagpur (parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh), Talcher and Ib Valley (Orissa).

Tata Steel ties up Canadian ore supply project Tata Steel has decided to exercise its option of acquiring an 80% interest in the direct shipping ore project of New Millennium Capital Corp, Canada (NML). Tata will reimburse 80% of NML`s cost to date on the DSO project and arrange funding up to C USD300 million (`13.5 billion) of capital costs for the project. It will also commit to take all the project`s iron ore products of specified quality, at world market prices, for the life of the mining operation. The JV will produce four million dry tons of iron ore products per year, commencing in 2012. Incidentally, Tata Steel has a 27.4% stake in NML.

EdServ raises Rs 1.08 bn to fund expansion To fund its Rs 1.3 billion expansion plans, Chennai-based education and placement company EdServ has completed its fund raising program raising Rs 1.08 billion including Rs 610 million from the qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue. According to a company statement, it has raised Rs 470 million, in addition to the above-mentioned Rs 1.08 billion, through the issue of equity warrants and preferential equity. The balance of the project cost would be funded through internal accruals. The QIP investors include a mix of domestic and foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The allotment of about 3 million shares relating to the QIP issue is expected to be completed within the 30 days.

Hyundai ties up with Vijaya Bank for retail financing The country`s second largest car manufacturer, Hyundai Motor India, has tied up with public sector lender Vijaya Bank to offer retail financing facilities to its buyers. ``With this association, we will be able to reach out to a wider consumer base with better and easier finance options. Also, the competitive rates and easily accessible locations of the bank will surely benefit our customers,`` the Hyundai Motor India Director Marketing and Sales), Arvind Saxena, said. Under the memorandum of understanding, both the partners will utilise and leverage each other`s strengths to cross sell Hyundai vehicles, along with the bank`s car loans and schemes.

IFGL Refractories: Allotted 14.5 lakh preference shares of Rs 100/each

Titagarh Wagons: Board approves allotment of 12.5 lakh Warrants convertible into Equity Shares to promoters

Unitech Corporate Park meets today to finalise the March ’10 numbers

Car makers offer cash discount ahead of Shraadh season – Mint

Emirates not keen on stake in domestic aviation companies – Mint

Reliance Power, Adani, GMR to bid for USD 1 billion mine in Australia – BS

Indosloar IPO closes today, subscribed 0.33x till now

Cognizant looks to buy Genpact – FE

Punj Lloyd has initiated arbitration proceedings against ONGC to claim USD 250 million for alleged flawed design – ET

Indian IT co sees deal postponement in the past quarter as US govt strident rhetoric begins – ET

Coffee makers like Nestle and Tata Coffee to hike prices as prices in Arabia up by almost 50% - ET