Markets to get a flat-to-cautious start

The Indian markets witnessed some profit booking in the last session, though major indices made a good attempt in final hours but ended marginally in red. Today, the start is likely to be flat-to-cautious; however the trade is likely to remain range-bound with no major cues in site. Traders may be getting some support with the report that heavy shower across north and northwest India, narrowed the overall monsoon deficit in the country to 14% and has accelerated crop growth. There is another report that could cheer the markets that the government may allow EPFO to invest in the stock markets, potentially making this the biggest source of domestic institutional investment after LIC. There will be some buzz in the infra stocks, as the Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu has said that the guidelines for the Government's flagship scheme '100 smart cities' are in advanced stage of finalization. The metals and mining stocks too may see some action, as the Central Government will soon introduce amendments to Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act to enhance mining in country. Power stocks will keep buzzing on reports that Power traded at the spot market increased last month to 2.5 billion units (BUs) due to high demand amidst weak monsoon and fuel shortages.

The US markets extended their consolidation mood and ended lower in last session. The early buying interest faded and stocks turned lower over the course of the trading day on uncertainty about Friday's monthly jobs report. The Asian markets have made a mixed start and some of the indices in the region are modestly in the red led by decline in material companies.

Back home, snapping their five days gaining streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended the choppy day of trade in red terrain on Thursday as investors opted to book some profit of the table after a slew of rallies amid sluggishness in other global markets. Domestic bourses made a choppy start and the indices even went on to test important psychological 27,000 (Sensex) and 8,050 (Nifty) levels, but the key gauges got some support near those intraday low levels as they trimmed their losses from thereon as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Overall, sentiment on the street remained down-beat on a report of World Economic Forum (WEF), which has ranked India among the worst-ranked countries when it comes to taxation and inflation burden on economy. As per the report, India ranks 133rd in terms of inflation, 130th for taxes and 131st for starting a business, while India has slipped to 71st position -- the lowest among BRICS countries, in global competitiveness list. However, losses remained capped as RBI has permitted ECB lenders for extending loans in Indian Rupees to domestic businesses. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1288.57 crore on September 03, 2014. Global cues too remained sluggish with European counters opening mostly in the red, while Asian markets too ended mostly in the negative terrain. Back home, selling in realty counter mainly dampened the sentiments, led by plunge of DLF stocks, which cracked by over 8.50% after Punjab and Haryana High Court cancelled a 350-acre plot of land that DLF had acquired from Haryana. Traders also offloaded stocks related to banking sector after RBI permitted ECB lenders for extending loans in Indian Rupees to domestic businesses, a move which would add to the competition for local banks, which are already facing poor credit off-take by India Inc. Additionally, public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) declined as Brent crude oil futures surged on September 3, 2014. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 54.01 points or 0.20%, to 27085.93, while the CNX Nifty lost 18.65 points or 0.23% to 8,095.95.