Nifty may open soft tracking global cues

Moneycontrol BureauIndian shares may open flat to marginally in the red, following a soft close on Wall Street overnight and as China yet again leads Asian markets lower.

At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty was trading 9 points, or 0.11 percent, lower to 8,465.

The weak sentiment in equities persisted despite some strong macroeconomic data emerging from the US and Japan, as risk appetite remained weak following concerns over the Chinese economy and as the US dollar found buying interest.

In other asset classes, Nymex crude inched above USD 42 barrel while gold fell.

Today, the Chinese market was trading 0.6 percent lower at the time of writing, following a 6 percent slump yesterday, but any worsening of selloff could impact sentiment here.Traders would closely eye whether the Nifty breaches its 200 day moving average of 8,457, which it is closely perched above currently.

Among other things to watch were statements from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who said monsoon in India, which was last recorded at 10 percent below average, was not as bad as hoped. He also urged the RBI to take into account falling inflation before deciding on its interest rate stance.

Stocks that are likely to remain in news include those in telecom companies, following continuing powwow between the government and companies on the issue of increasing call drops witnessed across the country.

Vedanta India may also remain in investor focus after it emerged that Cairn India's key minority shareholder LIC may oppose a proposed merger between the two firms.

While Majesco, the demerged insurance business of Mastek, is slated to list today.