Indian markets are expected to open higher

Market Outlook: Indian markets are expected to open higher backed by positive Asian market which rose on strong economic data emerging from US and Germany However, concerns over Eurozone economic debt crisis still weighs on investors minds.



Global Markets: U.S markets closed higher backed by strong jump in the nation’s housing starts, improving German business data and a better Spanish bond auction. On economic data front, housing starts surged to a one and a half year high in November and permits for future construction were the highest since March 2010 as demand for rental apartments rose. Housing starts jumped 9.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units.



Global events to watch:

· U.S. Home sales

· U.S. weekly mortgage applications data.



Global indices Update @ 8:



Dow Jones : 12103` (+337.3)

NASDAQ : 2603 (+80.59)

Nikkei 225 : 8453 (+117.3)

Hang Seng : 18403 (+323.7)

SGX CNX Nifty : 4650 (+83.00)

Gold (USD/t oz.) : 1627

Nymex Crude (F) : 98.01

INR / 1 USD : 53.02



TECHOUTLOOK : Support for Nifty is at 4505 resistance at 4676.



Call for the day:



Buy Ranbaxy SL 384 Target 400-405.

Sell Oracle SL 1930 Target 1830.



Stocks in action for the day: Shriram Trans, Infosys, Oracle, Ranbaxy.



Infosys’ BPO division has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Australia-based Portland Group for A$37 million (Rs195.44 crore)



Oracle to in focus: Parent company down 8% post disappoint results



NDTV block deal (14.1% equity changed hands yesterday) -Oswal Green Tech acquires 14.1% stake in NDTV (Formerly known as Oswal Chemicals) -Oswal buys stake from Merrill Lynch Cap & Nomura Mauritius



India’s largest consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever has appointed Om Prakash Bhatt, the former chairman of State Bank of India, as an independent director on its board.



The Union Government has ruled out the imposition of a customs duty on imported solar modules.



Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd has raised a total of Rs 538.08 crore from approximately 2.7 lakh investors through the first tranche of its “Long Term Infrastructure Bonds”



Ashok Leyland and its associate companies will increase their stake in the British bus maker Optare plc to 75.1 per cent



Lenders approve GTL rejig, ICICI to transfer stake: After a long delay, CDR cell has approved the restructuring package for GTL and its group companies. The promoter has agreed to bring personal guarantees worth Rs 2,500 crore which will be kept as a security for the lenders to restructure the total debt of Rs 16,000 crore.



Power utilities in AP mull extra levy for industrial consumers: Power utilities in Andhra Pradesh have proposed an expensive power purchase charge (EPPC) scheme for industrial consumers. This is under consideration of the State Energy Regulatory Commission.



Media reports suggested that Ranbaxy Ltd has reached a settlement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration while setting aside $500 million to address its potential liability from a separate U.S. Justice Department investigation.



Cabinet clears Lok Pal, PM in, CBI out: Taking the Opposition and civil society head on, the UPA government cleared a Lok Pal Bill that would bring the Prime Minister under the corruption ombudsman's purview. But, it segregated certain areas, including foreign affairs, national security, atomic energy, space, etc, which the Lok Pal will not be able to investigate. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will remain under the government’s overall control.



Delhi court is likely to decide today whether or not to take cognizance of CBI’s third charge sheet arising out of investigation in the 2G scam case against Essar Group and Loop Telecom promoters and three companies.



Mobile customer additions rose for the third consecutive month in November as mobile operators Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and a few others added a total of 6.68 million customers to the country’s GSM user base as per the Cellular Operator’s Association of India (COAI).



Attributing the current cash crunch in the system to advance tax payouts by companies, the Reserve Bank said that it will announce another tranche of government bond buyback scheme to ease liquidity constraints.



Srei Infrastructure Finance has decided to raise up to Rs.500 crore through a public issue of infrastructure bonds.



The Reserve Bank of India has cut banks’ net open position limits in currency trading by as much as 75% for some, and at least by half for most of the top traders, in its attempt to end speculation on the rupee.



The government said it will spend Rs 800 crore for the Sixth Economic Census to be conducted from April to November 2012 to update the data on industrial activity across the country for better microlevel planning and policy formulation.



Tata Motors that announced plans to up output of light commercial trucks from its Pantnagar plant by up to 90,000 vehicles per year from early 2012.



Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is likely to sell his Aptech stake via auction.



Mauritius based PE fund seeks nod to buy stake in Indian Energy Exchange promoted by Financial Technologies India (ET)



F&O Ban: Aban Offshore, ABG Shipyard, Gitanjali Gems, Punj Lloyd, Ruchi Soya