Decliners

There were few decliners on the market, led by BP. The oil company was forced to cut its growth expectations for the next few years on weak results. BP forecasts production of more than 4.0 million barrels by 2009 and more than 4.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2012. The stock dipped 1.6%. Royal Dutch Shell followed suit and also declined 0.3%.


9:00AM Market futures pointed slightly higher ahead of Fed officials’ comment.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a moderately higher opening on strong results from Tyco and corporate news from Wal-Mart. Investors also awaited comments from top Federal Reserve officials for clues about the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) said it was launching a test version of a video download service, which will include more than 3,000 movies and TV titles from major Hollywood studios and TV networks. The service will compete with Apple Inc.''s (AAPL: chart) download service. In earnings news, Tyco International (TYC: chart) reported Q1 earnings rise of 43%, citing increased demand for its electronics and fire and security technology. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings would have topped analyst forecasts. Shares of the company gained 1.3% in pre-open. Duke Energy (DUK: chart) reported Q4 earnings decline, but results excluding special items topped expectations. Cisco Systems (CSCO: chart) which is due to report quarterly results after the close gained 1.1% in pre-open trading.

Among other pre-market highlights, Toyota Motor (TM: chart) reported a 7% profit rise in Q4. Shares in BP (BP: chart) fell 1.3% in pre-market trading after the oil giant reported a 22% profit drop and warned of future production decrease. In other corporate news, International Business Machines (IBM: chart) inched up in pre-market trading. Late Monday the company said it sold its 3.5% stake in Lenovo for $123 million, selling its shares at roughly a 7% discount. S&P 500 futures edged up 1.30 points at 1,455.00 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3.50 points at 1,809.00. Dow industrial futures improved 12 points to 12,715.


8:30AM NY-7:30PM Mumbai Sensex declines dragged by large-caps.
The Sensex on BSE finished 37.71 points, or 0.26%, lower, at 14,515.90. The market-breadth was positive as 1,399 shares advanced on BSE, 1,271 declined and 48 remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 18 declined, while the rest advanced. The turnover on BSE surged to Rs 6,084 crore, compared to Rs 4,719 crore on Monday, as three block deals of 23.14 lakh shares each in TCS were struck. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 9,840.6 crore, higher than Rs 9,185.62 crore on Monday.

Economic news

Higher Education Secretary R P Aggarwal hinted that the government is for a 100% foreign direct investment in higher education. The current Foreign Education Bill allows a 50% foreign direct investment in higher education.

India, Pakistan and Iran are one step closer to agree on terms to transfer and purchase gas in the region from Iran. The pipeline is expected to cost at least $7 billion to build and transport 60 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to India and Pakistan. Mr Deora, oil and petroleum minister of India said that final price for the gas purchase will be determined based on the formula agreed by three nations. The price formula, as recommended by independent consultants will be based on price for Japanese crude oil basket for six trailing months.

The BT Group, British telecom network, said on Tuesday that it would buy i2i Enterprise Pvt Ltd, an Indian internet communications company. The acquiring company, BT Telecom India, a subsidiary of BT Group, did not disclose purchase price.

Trading highlights

TCS was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 910 crore followed by Auto Industries and Shree Ashtavinayak.

Advancers

Reliance Energy led the advancers today, up 2.10% to Rs 560. Reliance Energy has shown interest in buying the power sector assets of Globeleq. The stock was also boosted by a contract to build a large power project in Haryana.

Ranbaxy gained 1.35% to Rs 420, after the company said it signed a new agreement for cooperation with GlaxoSmithKline for new drug development in the therapeutic areas of anti-infectives and medicines to treat metabolic disorders.

ICICI Bank gained 1.39% to Rs 960 and rebounded from low of Rs 946.

Decliners

Reliance Communications led the decliners, ending 5.13% lower to Rs 488.65. Reliance fell after five consecutive sessions of gains in which the stock advanced 18%. Reliance Communications also raised a huge $1 billion on Monday through a convertible bond issue.