Moneycontrol Bureau
The Indian equity market is likely to open trade on a marginally positive note with the SGX Nifty, an indicator of the market opening, trading at 8021, up 25 points at 7:45am.
In the US, stocks closed little changed, after the market's best week of the year, as investors tracked the cost of crude as a proxy for the health of the global economy and sorted through quarterly earnings.
Meanwhile, it is an important week for the US markets, as the Federal Reserve will begin its 2-day policy meeting today. The fed is expected to end its 3rd round of bond buying and the investors will look for clues on timing of rate hike.
And in Europe, stock markets closed lower after a closely-watched German economic report came in weaker than expected, putting the brakes on a relief rally over the results of a key health check on the region's banks. German business sentiment hit its lowest level in almost two years.
In the currency space, the USD nursed modest losses on expectations of more dovish comments from the Federal Reserve.
In commodities, Brent crude slipped to USD 85 per barrel as Goldman Sachs cut its 2015 outlook for oil prices, saying it expects Brent crude to drop to USD 85 a barrel in the first quarter of 2015.
From precious metals space, gold prices slipped to USD 1220 an ounce ahead of FOMC meeting.
Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 98.15 points to 26752.90 while the 50-share NSE Nifty closed below the 8000 level, down 23.95 points to 7991.70. (More details)
In key earnings today, Lupin and Ranbaxy report numbers. As per CNBC-TV18 poll, Lupin may see a 23 percent revenue growth while profits may rise 36 percent. Meanwhile, Ranbaxy may see a 3 percent revenue growth led by launch of Diovan generic during the quarter.
In other news, competition watchdog has slapped a fresh order against Coal India. The latest order has directed Coal India to cease and desist from following unfair business practices. The order is a fallout of complaints filed in 2013, which alleged the use of anti-competitive practices in spot e-auctions. However, the CCI has stopped short of slapping a monetary penalty.
Online retail firm Snapdeal is likely to get a billion dollar vote of confidence from Japan's Softbank and an announcement could be expected today. Sources suggest that the bank is expected to pick up nearly 40 percent stake in the e-commerce company valuing it at nearly USD 2.5 billion. Moreover, the bank will also invest USD 10 billion in India in the coming days. Softbank is the largest shareholders in the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
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