US markets closed lower with the Wall Street recording its worst month in more than a year. Europe too closes in the red and Asia kicks of February on a weak note as Chinese factory growth slumped to a six-month low in January.
Back home, the Sensex closed at 20513.89, down 620 points and the Nifty at 6089.50, down 177 points compared to previous week.
Meanwhile, the department of telecom will begin spectrum auction in 1,800 and 900 megahertz bands from today. Meanwhile the Supreme Court has refused to stay spectrum auction, admits Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Loop's plea on licence extension.
Auto major Maruti Suzuki will be in focus as its management in its analyst meet clarified that Suzuki’s gujarat plant will make post-tax profit to cover capex via a takeover-pay agreement.
And in what is a big setback to Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party government, after discoms threaten 8 to 10 hours of power cuts, the regulator has now stepped in and hiked power tariffs.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) slash the price of non-subsidised cylinder by over Rs 100. Diesel, however gets costlier by 50 paisa per litre.
Meanwhile, January auto sales numbers were a mixed bag. While Tata Motors and Maruti reported a decline in sales, 2-wheeler major TVS Motor sees a good month with big boost coming in from exports.
In other asset classes
In the currency space, the euro licks its wounds near a 10-week low against the dollar this morning after soft euro zone inflation data rekindled speculation the European Central Bank (ECB) may ease policy to stave off deflation. Worries about capital flight from emerging economies also kept investors at arm’s length from risk assets, underpinning the yen over growth-sensitive, high-yielding currencies. The dollar index recorded its best monthly gain in eight months in January.
In commodities, crude prices fall in early Asian trade on concerns over oil demand after factory growth in China, the world's number two oil consumer, eased in January to a six-month low.
From the precious metals space, gold is little changed in early Asian trading after posting its first loss in six weeks, as the strength in the USD and the absence of key buyer china weighed on prices.
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