Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open on flat note

Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open on flat note and trade in the range of 5630-5700 Market is still not out of the woods and trying to consolidated before taking fresh moves. Overall market mood is still down but the set-up is such that an up move is a possible with any good newsflow. The support for the Nifty is at 5580 and resistance at 5745.

Global events to watch

Þ Housing Market Index

Þ Empire State Mfg Survey

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 11787 (+55.48)

NASDAQ : 2755 (+20.01)

Nikkei 225 : 10521 (+18.41)

Hang seng : 24267 (+110.7)

SGX CNX Nifty : 5675 (+15.00)

INR / 1 USD : 45.59

Stocks in action for the day: Infosys, TCS, Videocon, SBI, TCS, Usher Agro, IBREL, HCC, JSW Steel, ING Vysya, ONGC...

Finance Ministry sources -Decision on SBI rights issue likely in 4-5 days

ADAG shareholders lose Rs 6.5k cr after Sebi order: Shareholders in billionaire Anil Ambani group's six companies lost more than Rs 6,500 crore in notional value after a Rs 50-crore consent order settlement between the group and Securities & Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, in a probe into alleged use of borrowed funds to buy stocks, shook investor confidence.

TCS Q3 -Consolidated net sales at Rs 9,663.35 crore versus Rs 9,286.39 crore (QoQ) -Consolidated net profit at Rs 2,369.83 crore versus Rs 2,169.21 crore (QoQ) TCS Q3 US GAAP -Operating profit at Rs 2,713 crore; up 4.3% (QoQ) -Operating margin at 28.1%; up 7 bps (QoQ) -Net profit margin at 24.1%; up 144 bps (QoQ)

TCS says -October-December pricing up 1.18% sequentially -Added 35 new clients in Q3 -Q3 volumes up 5.7%; growth led by mature markets -Hope demand will continue to be strong going forward -Q3 forex gain of Rs 52.16 crore -Q3 employee utilisation, including trainees at 83.8% -Overall attrition in Q3 at 14.4% -Saw adverse impact of currency movement in October-December -Continuing to experience currency volatility -Added gross 20,219 employees in Q3 -Q3 offshore revenue up 30 bps at 51.4% -Deal pipeline continues to look healthy

Infosys told to pay Rs 400-cr tax on onshore sales: Tax authorities have asked India’s second-largest software firm, Infosys Technologies , to fork out over Rs 400 crore, refusing to acknowledge onshore services—derogatorily called Rs bodyshopping’—as software exports.

ING Vysya Bank ups deposit rates by up to 1% ING Vysya Bank has upped its term deposit rates across various maturity buckets by up to 1%. The increase is with effect from January 14, a press release issued here today stated. The bank has raised its rate by 1% from 7.75% to 8.75% for deposits of a tenor of 501-729 days. For tenures of 201-364 days and 365-499 days, the rates have been upped from 7.25% to 7.75% and 7.75 to 8.50%, respectively, the release said. For tenure of 500 days, the rate has been increased by 0.50% from 8.75% to 9.25%. For 730-days to less than five-years and 5-years to less than 8-years, the new rate is 8.75% as against the earlier 8.25% and 8.50%, respectively.

Oilmin sets riders for Vedanta`s Cairn India venture acquisition The oil ministry wants Vedanta to furnish an update on official proceedings against the mining group and unconditionally accept the government`s view in legal disputes with Cairn India before it approves the London-listed firm`s USD 9.6-bid to buy Cairn`s Indian venture. The measures are among a slew of conditions proposed by oil ministry officials for an in-principle approval of the controversial deal. While these conditions can be another setback for the controversial deal, which has seen many twists and turns since it was announced last August, top oil ministry officials said these were ``minor`` issues that could be resolved by a dialogue and the deal remained on track to be approved.

JSW Steel to infuse Rs 38 bn in Ispat Industries JSW Steel on Monday said it plans to infuse Rs 38 billion in Ispat industries in the next 2-3 years. The country`s third largest steel maker JSW Steel had acquired nearly 45% stake in debt-ridden Ispat Industries for Rs 21.57 billion in December last year. When asked about the company`s investment plans in Ispat Industries, JSW Steel Director (Commercial & Marketing) Jayant Aacharya said: ``it will be about Rs 38 billion over next 2-3 years.`` Commenting on the Ispat`s current debt which stands at about Rs 98 billion, Acharya said, ``There is debt to be recast, which is to be done by September 2011``. He also said that the integration with Ispat is going out well, to take its capacity to 5 million tones from the current 3.3 million tones.

Lincoln Pharma gets patent approval for nasal spray treatment Lincoln Pharmaceuticals on Monday said it has received patent approval for a nasal spray, which would help prevent vomiting and nausea. The company has won the patent for a novel nasal drug delivery system (NDDS) that helps in arresting vomiting and nausea, Lincoln Pharma said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). It particularly could help in chemotherapy induced vomiting, it added. ``We wanted to provide immediate relief to people suffering from this problem. Now after winning the patent for the novel NDDS, we will be able to help patients experience relief with in a few minutes,`` Lincoln Pharma Managing Director Mahendra G Patel said.

ONGC appoints 6 merchant banks to manage stake sale State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has appointed six merchant bankers - Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC, Nomura Holdings, JM Financial Services, Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley - to manage the sale of government`s 5% stake in the company. ``Six merchant bankers have been short listed for the follow-on public offer. They will be subjected to other checks and another shortlist drawn once the Finance Ministry approves it,`` R S Sharma, Chairman, ONGC told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Mumbai. The government plans to sell 5% of its shareholding in the country`s biggest energy explorer in March to garner around Rs 140 billion.

Siva Ventures acquired over 8% in Usher Agro -Siva Ventures almost doubled its holding in Usher Agro over the last three weeks through open market purchases.

Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) board okays biz restructuring -IBREL says to restructure power, infra businesses -IBREL says to demerge power operations from company -To merge power operations with arm Indiabulls Infra

HCC sources -Environment ministry submits report on Lavasa -Gross violations by Lavasa; difficult to okay project -Environment ministry to give report to Bombay HC on Tuesday

Rallis India Q3FY11 YoY -Revenue up 31% to Rs 271 crore versus Rs 207 crore PAT up 40% to Rs 33.69 crore versus Rs 24 crore -OPM 19% versus 21%

Zensar Tech Q3 -Cons net profit at Rs 33.9 crore versus Rs 32.5 crore (YoY) -Cons net sales at Rs 259 crore versus Rs 240 crore (YoY)

Essar Oil says: From DJ -In talks with Shell to buy Europe refinery -Exploring investment opportunity in East Africa -Aim to have 1 million bbl/day global refining capacity -To raise Rs 1,133 crore to expand refinery capacity -May raise 30% of debt in dollar loans -2 mt refinery expansion to cost Rs 1,700 crore

RBI says -NBFCs must make general provision of 0.25% for standard asset -NBFCs must not use standard asset provision for NPA calculation -NBFCs can include standard asset provision in Tier-II capital

Corporate actions -SAIL: Ex dividend by Rs 1.2 -Siemens: Ex dividend by Rs 5

RBI to sell Rs 11,000 crore of govt bonds on Jan 21 -RBI to sell Rs 4000 crore of 7.99% 2017, 8.08% 2002 bonds each -RBI to sell Rs 3,000 crore of 8.26% 2027 bond -RBI bond sales part of pre-announced OMO to improve liquidity

Govt sources Agri Ministry wants 100% FDI in multibrand retail -Agri Ministry keen that 50% of FDI be for backend

Agri Ministry: -Multibrand FDI improves efficiency in retail -Multibrand FDI to boost farm product exports -No job reservation for rural youth in FDI outlets -Planning Commission supports multibrand retail FDI -More suppliers needed in growth economy -Fear of job losses is exaggerated

Murli Deora to Network18 -Decision to hike petrol prices taken by oil companies -These companies are navratnas & are making huge losses' -Navratnas cannot be allowed to bleed' -Oil companies had no alternative but to hike prices -Have sought meeting with FM on Tuesday -Requesting Finance Ministry to abolish import, excise duty on oil -CNBC-TV18 alert: Duties were levied in the last budget TMC also part of decision on decontrol of oil prices

GAIL to make part payment to Russian Government held OAO Gazprom over oil block claims (Mint)

Reliance Industries plans global hunt for shale gas eyeing Australia & Canada (BL)

Securities in F&O ban: Chambal Fertiliser, Kingfisher Airlines

Videocon and Tata Communications sign strategic sourcing agreement

C Mahendra Exports to list on Jan 20

Results Today:

Jan 18 Automotive Stampings and Assemblies Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Bajaj Finance Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Cadila Healthcare Ltd, earnings for quarter and nine months ended December.

Jan 18 Container Corp of India Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Development Credit Bank Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Exide Industries Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Everest Industries Ltd, earnings for quarter and nine months ended December.

Jan 18 GAIL (India) Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 HT Media Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Indiabulls Power Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Kisan Mouldings Ltd, to consider issue of optionally fully convertible warrants.

Jan 18 Mastek Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 MindTree Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 MM Forgings Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 MSP Steel & Power Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 NIIT Technologies Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Opto Circuits (India) Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Petronet LNG Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Prism Cement Ltd, earnings for quarter and nine months ended December.

Jan 18 R P P Infra Projects Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December and interim dividend.

Jan 18 Solar Industries India, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Sri Chamundeswari Sugars Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 State Bank of Mysore Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 State Bank of Travancore, earnings for quarter ended December.

Jan 18 Tata Elxsi Ltd, earnings for quarter ended December.