The key domestic benchmarks are likely to open on a cautious note today
tracking weakness across most Asian stocks as investors stay on the sidelines
ahead of the key US January non-farm payrolls data to be unveiled today which
may show that the world’s biggest economy added more than 200K jobs for a
twelfth month on the trot. China’s Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng fell on
concerns over a deepening slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy and
that IPOs may draw capital from existing shares, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose led
by an advance in lenders. Investors will continue to focus on Greece as the
European Central Bank (ECB) shut off direct liquidity lines to the country which
is demanding a roll back of austerity measures tied to its bailout program. Back
home, with the RBI keeping interest rates unchanged this week, the focus has
shifted to the Union Budget to be unveiled on February 28, 2015 with investors
looking for further reform goodies from the government.
