Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open on constructive note a

Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open on constructive note ahead of positive global sentiments. Overall market should continue to be on up note. The crucial support on the downside for the Nifty is 6020 and resistance at 6140.

Global events to watch:

Þ Jobless Claims

Þ Monster Employment Index

Þ Chain Store Sales

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 11722 (+31.71)

NASDAQ : 2702 (+20.95)

Nikkei 225 : 10502 (+121.2)

Hang seng : 23715 (- 42.68)

SGX CNX Nifty : 6117 (+19.50)

INR / 1 USD : 45.20

Stocks in action for the day: NMDC, BHEL, TCS, Gitanjali, HDIL, Maytas, L&T, SAIL, Ranbaxy...

Fertiliser Secretary says -No change on urea policy as of now -To form committee to look into nutrient-based subsidy -Committee Of Secretaries will discuss nutrient-based subsidy -GoM will decide urea policy based on recommendations of committee

Finance Ministry sources say -Urea price decontrol may take place only next fiscal -Diesel price deregulation may be held off till February -Fiscal situation comfortable currently -FY11 fiscal deficit may be 5.3% CNBC-TV18 alert: Budget targets 5.5% fiscal deficit in FY12

ONGC FPO -RFPs for merchant banks likely on January 7 -Criteria for selection of merchant banks may be changed CNBC-TV18 alert: ONGC FPO likely in March, Govt to divest 5% stake

Citi – Sources -Few HNIs claim Citi offered settlement in December -Few HNIs claim were offered 60-70% of invested funds -Shivraj Puri & some HNIs signed private MoUs for recovery -Citi Management had no knowledge of private MoUs -Some HNIs may now file civil suits

Vodafone gets Mumbai ITAT relief over TDS on roaming charges Mumbai ITAT says -National roaming payments between telcos not liable for TDS Alert - ITAT is Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Alert- TDS is Tax Deducted at Source -Payments not "rent" for telecom equipment use -Order relates to sec 194 -1 of IT act -Company had entered into roaming agreement with Idea -Order relief for companies entering into roaming agreements:KPMG

L&T split may unlock value of new entities: Larsen & Toubro plans to split the engineering and infrastructure firm into nine companies. The key question is whether these entities would derive greater value than a single diversified group. Analysts reckon the separate entities would be able to perform better and may generate greater value than the group as a monolith. L&T`s management has signaled that it intends to split the 370 billion company into nine companies, each operating with different chief executives and human resource heads. Such a large-scale division of an established conglomerate would be the first of its kind in India but industry trackers say it is not unusual in global markets. ``Most chemical companies split their pharmaceutical and agro-chemical businesses into different entities. It seems to have worked well for them,`` says Arvind Mahajan, head of business advisory at KPMG.

GSK re-enters oral care market with Sensodyne GlaxoSmith-Kline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH), maker of Horlicks and Foodles instant noodles, on Wednesday made its second attempt at cracking the Rs 18.5 billion toothpaste market by launching Sensodyne. Toothpaste for sensitive teeth, Sensodyne will take on market leader Colgate, which already has a product in this segment- Sensitive. Aquafresh toothpaste, GSK-s first launch, was phased out about seven-eight years ago due to poor consumer off take. Sensodyne, GSK-s biggest global brand with an annual sales of USD 750 million, has close to a 10% share of the US toothpaste market, and has been the fastest growing toothpaste brand in the world over the last five years, said GSK vice-president (marketing ) Shubhajit Sen.

SAIL board to vet project report on Posco JV soon State-run Steel Authority of India`s board of directors is expected to vet a detailed project report (DPR) on its proposed 160 billion, 3 million-tonne per annum steel joint venture with South Korea`s Posco at a meeting this month. Posco has already ratified the DPR and if SAIL concurs with its assessment on the feasibility of the project, other modalities such as the stakeholding pattern will be finalised. A DPR is ready for the 160 billion JV using FINEX technology. Now the SAIL board, which is likely to meet later this month, will take a final call on it,`` Posco India senior vice-president Vikas Sharan said. Asked about Posco`s stake in the JV, Sharan said the final details are yet to be worked out. Meanwhile, SAIL sources said the DPR will be put up before the SAIL board shortly.

Merck ends pact with Ranbaxy American drugmaker Merck & Co has terminated its two-year-old partnership to develop anti-infective medicines with Ranbaxy Laboratories that could have brought payments of over USD100 million to the Indian pharma company over five years. Separate reports have said the world`s second largest drugmaker has now shifted the research programme to Aurigine, a wholly-owned drug discovery subsidiary of Dr Reddy`s. But this could not be independently verified. The spokesmen for Ranbaxy and MSD, the Indian arm of Merck & Co, said they have terminated the drug discovery programme to develop anti-bacterial and antifungal medicines.

Lupin scouts for buys in Latin America Lupin is scouting for acquisitions in Latin America, and is in talks with at least a couple of potential candidates in Brazil and Mexico, Vinod Dhawan, the company`s president in charge business development, told ET. The company will look to spend around USD 50 million on the acquisitions. The company hopes to achieve revenue of USD 150 million from Latin America by the financial year 2012-13 , when the company is targeting annual revenue of USD 3 billion, three times that of the revenue in 2010. Analysts believe only 60% of that revenue growth is possible through normal or organic growth and the rest must come from acquisitions. Earlier, the company`s US President and CEO, Vinita Gupta had said Lupin would look at a ``strong entry`` into Latin America and Canada.

BHEL plans NBFC to fund power projects State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) plans to float a non-banking financial company (NBFC) to finance power projects, according to its Chairman and Managing Director B Prasada Rao. Rao said the power equipment maker had appointed consulting company Crisil to study the model and the report was likely to be submitted in six weeks. ``For now, we are looking at only power projects. If we find scope for others, including equipment financing, we will look into it. We will take a final call after we receive the report,`` he said. He was speaking to reporters after inaugurating production bays at its Ranipet Unit, around 150 kilometres from Chennai.

Dr Reddy`s ties up with UK-based research organisation Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy`s Laboratories has entered into a research partnership with UK-based contract research organisation Argenta. Argenta will apply its integrated drug discovery platform and expertise to find potential new drug targets for Dr Reddy`s in the area of pain and inflammation. Spokesperson at Dr Reddy`s confirmed the development, but declined to provide financial implications of the deal. Four years ago, the company had announced a similar agreement with Argenta in the area of respiratory treatment. The spokesperson said the earlier research tie-up was progressing well and Pulmagen, Argenta`s respiratory therapy division, continued to work on potential drug candidates. ``It is in the pre-clinical development stage.``

Continental Petroleums board approves issue of 3.15 lakh warrants converted into equity at Rs 23/share

Mindtree amalgamation with Mindtree Wireless gets court approval

Maytas Infra bags Rs 372 crore order from NHAI for 4 lane road in ASSAM

Unity Infra bags orders worth Rs 122 crore

Jayshree Chem commissions plant ahead of schedule with investment of Rs 150 crore

Kiri Dyes board meet in January 17 to consider stock split

Chartered Logistics bags transmission orders worth Rs 11 crore

3G issue almost resolved, Govt to issue guidelines soon: Kapil Sibal. PTI

HDIL sells Andheri plot to Kanakia’s for Rs 800 crore – ToI (HDIL had bought this plot for Rs 400 crore 2 years back)

TCS to setup a Rs 1500 crore mega global learning centre in Kerala (ET)

Gitanjali Gems in advanced talks with two PE players to raise up to USD 100 million, hopes to close the deal by February (BS)

Apollo Hospitals will invest nearly Rs 1000 crore to setup 12 new hospitals in small towns across the country over the next two years (BS)

Jindal PolyFilms plans to go for private equity investments in its subsidiary, Jindal India Thermal Power (BS)

Shriram Capital may sell 20% stake to South Africa’s Sanlam group for all its financial services ventures (BL)

Global Hospitals would invest nearly Rs 1500 crore over the next five years to expand its footprint across all major cities in India (BL)

KSK Energy Ventures have announced that the company has commissioned third unit of 135 MW of the 540 MW Wardha Warora thermal plant located in Maharashtra. (BL)

NMDC has got a conditional approval from the Environment and Forest Ministry for a Rs 274 crore limestone project in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh (BL)