Sensex, Nifty to open on a positive note

Global cues seem healthy for now. Auto numbers and PMI numbers will be eyed. The Nifty managed to close above the resistance of 7550. The current momentum is likely to continue in the near term and 7680 is the next hurdle for Nifty. The market has to contend with the fact that some pressure could be witnessed given the precarious situation; both national and international.

The Feb series has got off  to a great start. The combined market valuation of top 10 most valued Indian companies advanced by a whopping Rs. 1,02,667 crore last week thanks to the Friday rally. Ahead of the  policy meet, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has warned against generating economic growth through additional debt.  He said any deviation from the fiscal consolidation path will hurt stability of the economy.

The outlook is a positive opening. Global cues seem healthy for now. Auto numbers and PMI numbers will be eyed. The Nifty managed to close above the resistance of 7550. The current momentum is likely to continue in the near term and 7680 is the next hurdle for Nifty. The market has to contend with the fact that some pressure could be witnessed given the precarious situation; both national and international. It would be prudent to apply some caution and use recent gains to reshuffle portfolio. The RBI meet tomorrow will keep banking stocks in focus. It is unlikely that RBI will cut rates since inflation has moved broadly in-line with its trajectory.

Among results, investors will watch out for Q3 numbers of Tech Mahindra, Jindal Saw, Skipper, VRL Logistics and Welspun Corporation among others. 

The fiscal deficit data for April-December 2015-16 stands at 87.9% of FY16 target. The fiscal deficit stands at Rs 4.88 lakh crore as against Rs 5.32 lakh cr YoY, and which is slightly higher than the April-November data released last month which came in at Rs 4.83 lakh crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 'Airtel and The Economic Times Global Business Summit' in New Delhi last week. In his inaugural speech, the Prime Minister spoke on the progress of the Indian economy and the business environment in India, emphasizing the need for further reforms that can transform the lives of the citizens.Addressing a big gathering of business and political leaders, policymakers and economic thinkers from over 10 countries, the Prime Minister articulated that the need to improve governance is as important as economic reform.

MoS Finance Jayant Sinha reportedly said that we should be able to achieve 8% growth in Next Fiscal Year.

The government will stand by the banks and ensure it all times that they will maintain capital adequacy norms as laid out by Basel III and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), union minister of state for finance, Mr Jayant Sinha said at an ASSOCHAM event held in Mumbai.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said the 8% GDP growth can be achieved next fiscal on account of improved rural demand and better monsoon.

India's telecom regulator recommended a reserve price yesterday of Rs. 115bn (USD1.7bn) per MHz for pan-India 700MHz spectrum. Fitch Ratings believes that efficiency gains from deploying 4G services on 700MHz will be insufficient to offset the relatively high price.

The Government will soon approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan with a proposal to include road projects under the priority sector lending list, reports a national daily.

Tamil Nadu’s first 800 mw supercritical thermal power plant is expected to commence operations by the middle of 2019, reports a financial newspaper.

A consortium of lenders led by Bank of India (BAOI) and State Bank of India (SBI) is considering strategic debt restructuring (SDR) of Tilaknagar Industries, reports a business daily.