The Indian market may open flat or slightly higher on Tuesday, buoyed by positive news flow on U.S retail sales during the holiday season and Chinese economic growth.
According to data supplied by MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, U.S. retail sales rose an estimated 3.6 percent this holiday season from a year earlier, up sharply from a 2.3 percent drop for the same time last year.
Over the weekend, China raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6% from 9% and added that this year's quarterly figures will also increase, helping it overtake Japan as the world's second largest economy some time in the second half of this year.
Elsewhere, data showed Japanese industrial output rose for the ninth consecutive month in November, driven by strong exports and government stimulus money.
Higher oil and metal prices may help commodity-related stocks rally. Stock-specific action could be seen on earnings expectations, but the strengthening of the dollar versus the euro and speculation that interest rates may raise sooner than anticipated could limit the upside. Trading may remain volatile as traders roll positions in the derivative segment.
On Wall Street, stocks managed to close modestly higher on Monday, with a lack of economic catalysts limiting movement. After moving in a somewhat choppy fashion early on, the major averages closed higher for a sixth consecutive session, setting fresh yearly closing highs. The Dow advanced 0.26%, the Nasdaq by 0.24% and the S&P 500 by 0.12%.The Indian ADRs, however, ended on a mixed note.
Currently, Asian stocks are trading mixed after ending broadly higher in the previous session. Crude oil is trading modestly lower near a one-month high above $78 a barrel and the Dow futures are moving up by 4 points.
In corporate news, Reliance Power commenced production from its first power plant Rosa in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
Idea Cellular has secured a Rs.9,500-crore credit line for the upcoming 3G auctions, the Economic Times reported.
Steel makers SAIL and Tata Steel have raised prices of long products by up to Rs.2,000 per tonne.
Exports of gems and jewelery from India grew by over 47% in November from a year earlier, apex industry body Gems and Jewelery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said.
The much-awaited auction of spectrum for third generation (3G) mobile services may be delayed by over a month, the Business Standard said.
Reliance Industries said it has successfully tested the design capacity of its eastern offshore KG basin D6-field production facilities.
The benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty bounced back as much as 4% last week, helped by strong FII buying and hectic short covering on the back of positive news flow with respect to advance tax payments by corporates for the Oct-Dec quarter. An unexpected softening in food inflation to 18.65% in the second week of December and a promising report on core sector growth in November also helped lift sentiment.
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