Market cues: 10 stocks to watch out for this morning

Hexaware Tech BSE | NSE 29/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Hexaware Tech? Other Stocks in this news Cinemax India | Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals | Infrastructure Development Finance Company | UltraTech Cement | Kingfisher Airlines | Reliance Industries | Oil and Natural Gas Corporation |

Moneycontrol Bureau

Wall Street erased early losses but still ended flat as renewed eurozone debt concerns offset healthy factory orders data. European markets too finished lower dragged down by financials.

European Markets

European stocks extended losses in low volume trade, tracking falls on Wall Street, with the banking sector still the worst hit after Italian lender Unicredit priced its rights issue at a huge discount.

Germany kick started the bond auctions for 2012 with a lackluster uptake. Berlin sold 4.06 billion euros of government bonds, a billion less than targeted. The auction received bids worth 1.3 times the amount allotted to investors, compared to 1.1% at the previous sale.

Data to Watch

And all eyes will be on France today which is selling between 7-8 billion euros of longer dated paper. Analysts fear that lacklustre demand could increase fears of Paris losing its triple-A credit rating.

US Markets

And in the US, the Dow and S&P clawed back into positive territory at the close, but gains were limited over renewed fears over the eurozone debt crisis.

Asian Markets

Asia too opened lower as investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of a French bond auction today. In other asset classes, crude spiked to an eight month high with Brent above USD 113 per barrel levels as Europe reportedly agreed in principle to an Iranian oil embargo and amid shrinking US crude stockpiles.

Currency & Commodity Corner

The euro slipped versus the dollar on the dull German bond auction and on concerns that eurozone's debt crisis is worsening.

From the precious metals space, gold rose to USD 1,610 levels as renewed hedge fund and technical buying sent it to its fourth straight day of gains.

In commodities, crude traded near its eight-month high as investors speculated that shrinking US crude stockpiles and tension over Iran's nuclear program could tighten global supplies.

Indian Market

And back home, it was a day of consolidation for the Nifty. The benchmark index started off flat but slipped to close marginally in the red at 4,750. The Sensex too closed in the red with a loss of 57 points.

Stock Specific Action

The Department of Disinvestment tries to allay concerns raised by coal and power ministries over the PSU buyback plan. The cabinet note says PSUs will decide on buying back its own shares. The DoD may sell government stake in PSUs to LIC, public sector banks, and SPVs.

The ONGC board approves Rs 6.25 per share interim dividend. The government will pocket over Rs 4,800 crore. The board also approves four new oil and gas discoveries.

The focus is back on RIL which plans to undertake a three-week shutdown of its unit at the Jamnagar SEZ refinery of crude distillation unit.

Meanwhile Kingfisher Airlines says that they are not planning to lay-off any staff. The Times of India reports that Kingfisher safety is a concern.

UltraTech 's December cement sales rose 10.5% at 3.62 million tonne YoY.

And IDFC will launch its public issue of infra bonds on January 11, 2012.

The Economic Times reports that AV Birla group will buy 10-15% stake in Bumi Resources. Tata Power already holds stake and has a supply agreement with Bumi.

CINEMAX shareholders agree on 2:1 stock split.

Orchid Pharma reports successful completion of Phase I study of its novel PDE4 inhibitor molecule, OCID 2987.

And Hexaware , valued at USD 700 million is up for sale, reports the Times of India. This news has been doing the round for a while now but management has always denied the same.

For more pre-market cues, listen to the accompanying audio..

Chelsea Saldanha

chelsea.saldanha@network18online.com