The market is poised for positive start on firm Asian equities. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a gain of 38 points at the opening bell.

ONGC and Bhel may see action on reports a panel of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will decide on stake-sale in these state-run firms today, 15 February 2012. Divestment in these two state-run firms may fetch the government about Rs 14000 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2012.

Sterlite Industries will be focus on reports that Grupo Mexico SAB's Asarco LLC has won $82.8 million in a lawsuit against Sterlite over a failed deal to buy Asarco out of bankruptcy. Grupo Mexico, which owns Asarco, had argued it suffered damages of $2.28 billion from Sterlite's decision in 2008 to walk away from an agreement to buy the company.

Unitech reported 50.4% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 55.22 crore on 22.1% fall in net sales to Rs 513.90 crore in Q3 December 2011 over Q3 December 2010. The result was announced after market hours on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.

Reliance Infrastructure after market hours on Tuesday, 14 February 2012 informed it has bought-back 44.30 lakh equity shares for Rs 234.32 crore, representing 1.66% of the pre buy-back paid up equity shares at an average price of Rs 528.91 per equity share. The shares were bought under the buyback program which commenced from 11 April 2011 and closed on 13 February 2012.

Key benchmark indices gained for the second straight day on Tuesday, 14 February 2012, as the latest government data showed that inflation in January eased to a 26-month low. The BSE Sensex surged 75.73 points or 0.43% to settle at 17,848.57.

The wholesale price index (WPI) rose a slower-than-expected 6.55% in January 2012 from 7.47% rise in December 2011, government data showed on Tuesday, 14 February 2012. The annual reading for November 2011 was revised up to 9.46% from 9.11% reported earlier.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1030.12 crore on Tuesday, 14 February 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. FIIs have bought shares worth a net Rs 9588.68 crore in first ten trading sessions this month, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. The inflow this month comes on the top of heavy purchases last month. FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 10357.70 crore in January 2012, as per data from Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Essar Oil has postponed its board meeting for Q3 December 2011 results to 17 February 2012 from 14 February 2012. Ranbaxy Laboratories and ABB unveil Q4 December 2011 results on 23 February 2012.

After a gap of nearly nine years, the Reserve Bank on Monday, 13 February 2012, increased the bank rate by 350 basis points to 9.5% with immediate effect. This (the increase) should be viewed and understood as one-time technical adjustment to align the Bank Rate with the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate rather than a change in the monetary policy stance, RBI said in a notification. The Bank Rate has lost its significant as a monetary policy tool as the central bank presently signals stance through changes in repo, the rate at which banks borrow short-term funds from RBI.

Meanwhile, media reports indicate that the finance ministry is considering a proposal to increase excise duty from 10% to 12%, although still lower than the level before the 2008 financial crisis. The move is aimed at helping the government improve its fiscal situation but it is expected to push up the cost of almost all manufactured goods from food products to consumer durables and automobiles.

Industrial production rose a slower-than-expected 1.8% in December 2011, government data showed on Friday, 10 February 2011. The growth in December 2011 was sharply lower than 5.9% growth in November 2011. Manufacturing output, which constitutes about 76% of industrial production, rose 1.8% from a year earlier, the statistics office said.

India's January exports rose 10.1% to $25.4 billion while imports rose 20.3% to $40.1 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $14.7 billion, Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar said on Thursday, 9 February 2012. India's exports reached $242.8 billion between April and January, Khullar said, citing provisional data.

The Indian economy is estimated to grow 6.9% in the current fiscal year through March 2012 (FY 2012), sharply slower than the 8.4% expansion reported last year, according to a government forecast released on Tuesday, 7 February 2012. The new expectation is due to weaker growth in manufacturing and farm output, data from the ministry of statistics and implementation showed. The government expects manufacturing output to grow 3.9% this fiscal year compared with a 7.6% increase a year earlier. Farm output is expected to rise 2.5%, compared with 7% last year. In December 2011, the government had cut its growth projection for FY 2012 to between 7.25% and 7.75% from an initial forecast of 9%.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the annual budget for 2012/13 on 16 March 2012, while the railways budget will be presented on 14 March 2012. The budget session of parliament will start on 12 March 2012, Pawan Kumar Bansal, minister of parliament affairs, said recently. The government will present on March 15 the Economic Survey for 2011/12, a document on the state of economy prepared by the economic division in the ministry of finance. The annual budget is usually presented on the last working day of February. However, the budget has been delayed this time due to the ongoing assembly polls. Polling for assembly elections in five states concludes in early March 2012.

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as optimism Greece will commit to austerity measures and the yen's drop to a three-month low against the dollar boosted the earnings outlook for Asian exporters. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan were up by between 0.21% to 1.47%.

US stocks recouped most of their intraday losses on Tuesday on improvement in retail sales.. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 4.24 points, or 0.03%, to 12,878.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 1.27 points, or 0.09%, to 1,350.50 and the Nasdaq Composite index edged up 0.44 points, or 0.02%, to 2,931.83.

Euro-area finance ministers will today, 15 February 2012, in Brussels convene in an extraordinary meeting that was set after they declined in a special session on 9 February 2012 to ratify the 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) package for Greece.

Rating agency Moody's on Monday chopped the debt ratings of Italy, Spain and Portugal and put France, Britain and Austria on warning, saying they were increasingly vulnerable to the eurozone crisis. Casting doubt over whether Europe's leaders were doing enough to reverse the downslide of the region's economy and financial sector, Moody's also cut its ratings for Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta. Moody's also questioned whether Europe was pulling together adequate resources to deal with the crisis.

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