Indian shares are seen opening lower on Monday, mirroring weak Asian cues as caution set in ahead of Italian and Spanish debt auctions tomorrow and the summit of European leaders slated to take place later this week. Asian currencies are edging lower against the dollar while commodities are posting modest gains.
Closer home, finance minister and UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee said at the weekend that the government and the RBI would announce measures today to boost the economy and shore up the falling rupee, which has dropped about 13 percent in the past three months to close at 57.15 against the dollar on Friday.
According to media reports, the measures could include a hike in the interest rate on FCNR(B) deposits, a bond issue for non-resident Indians and an increase in foreign-investment limits to help increase dollar inflows and strengthen the Indian currency.
Across Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is trading marginally higher, while China's Shanghai Composite is down 0.4 percent, Australia's All Ordinaries index is declining 1.1 percent, Japan's Nikkei average is losing 0.2 percent and South Korea's Kospi average is down 1.6 percent.
U.S. stocks posted moderate gains on Friday, thanks to some hectic bargain hunting after the previous session's setback. However, news that ratings agency Moody's has downgraded the ratings of 15 banks and securities firms with global capital markets operations rendered the underlying mood somewhat cautious. The Dow rose half a percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent.
Financial giant Morgan Stanley was among the companies downgraded, although its long-term debt rating was lowered by just two notches compared to expectations for three.
Major European markets ended lower on Friday, with France' CAC 40, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and the German DAX dropping between 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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