Cues that may help Nifty start Feb series on better note

The US stocks fell in trade after a batch of disappointing corporate earnings and a rise in initial jobless claims eventually overtook investors' impulse to buy.

All eyes would be on the key jobs data from US today - the non-farm payrolls data for January. The unemployment rate is seen declining marginally to 7.7% from 7.8%. The January consumer sentiment might show a slight up tick to 71.5 from 71.3. Meanwhile P-M-I manufacturing index is seen rising to 55.5 from 54 levels last month.

European stocks on Thursday ended the last day of January on a downbeat note, as stronger-than-expected US. Business-activity data failed to offset a mixed bag of earnings and downbeat comments a day earlier from the Federal Reserve.

Asian markets begin trade on a soft note. Back home, the BSE Sensex fell on Thursday as ICICI Bank was hit by profit-booking after beating forecasts with its quarterly earnings, while the expiry of January derivatives kept trading volatile towards the end of the session. The Nifty closed at 6,034, lost 21 points and the Sensex was down 110 points to end below 19,990.

Currency

The dollar index continues below 80 levels as the euro gained further ground to 14-month highs. It is firm at 1.36.

Commodities

Brent crude continued its firm run. It is trading above USD 115 per barrel and Nymex crude above the 97 levels.

Earnings Central

It will be a busy day on the earnings calendar. A CNBC-TV18 poll sees Bharti posting 3% revenue growth driven by seasonally strong quarter, but its margins may remain flat. From the capital goods space- BHEL's profit may decline 4% amidst a declining order backlog and paucity of incremental orders. IDFC, Marico and Jet are among other key numbers to watch.

Stocks in news

Wire reports suggest that JSPL has made a over USD 230 million bid to acquire Gujarat NRE coking coal. It is the Australian subsidiary of Gujarat NRE coke.

The government has set a reserve price of Rs 510 per share for the Oil India offer for sale. The issue opens today and the government hopes to rake in Rs 3000 crore from the stake sale.

Auto sales

January auto sales numbers will be declared today. CNBC-TV18 estimates indicate a slow start to 2013 with car industry volumes declining 8-10%. Two wheelers may see marginal 4% volume growth.