• Asian stocks declined for the first time in three days

Asian stocks declined for the first time in three days, led by materials companies and carmakers, after a drop in U.S. consumer confidence to a 10-month low spurred concern that the economic recovery will slow. Japan’s exports climbed at the fastest pace in almost 30 years in January, supporting the nation’s economic recovery as falling wages damp demand at home. Witnesses at the first of three Congressional hearings on Toyota's recall problems testified that they believe they have found a possible additional cause of unintended acceleration in Toyotas, one that has to do with the vehicles' electronic throttle control systems. More bad news on the housing bust front: Nearly 25% of all mortgage borrowers were underwater, meaning they pay more on their loans than their homes are worth. First American CoreLogic, the research firm that monitors housing equity, reported that 11.3 million homeowners -- or 24% of all homes with mortgages -- were underwater as of the end of 2009. That's up from 23% and 10.7 million borrowers three month earlier. Even though signs of a housing recovery are uneven at best, the Federal Reserve is about to take off the training wheels it has had in place for more than a year to help the battered market. The Fed has been buying mortgage-backed securities, the bundling of home loans that are used to fund mortgage lending, since late 2008. But next month it plans to complete its purchase of $1.25 trillion in mortgages. Google and Yahoo plan to fight a lawsuit filed last week by Xerox, which claims that the two search-engine giants infringed on the copier and printing company's patents. The state finance ministers have stated that the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will replace most of the indirect taxes at the central and the state levels, cannot be implemented from April this year as envisaged. The government has said that as many as 131 highway projects are running behind schedule due to delays in land acquisition besides other reasons. India has imported 16.18 lakh tonnes of sugar so far this season to augment domestic supplies and check price rise. Large outsourcing contracts worth up to $1 billion look set for a comeback this year, as companies from segments like retail, banking, telecom and utilities, apart from government bodies, seek to cope with renewed demand for their services and also lower their operational expenses. Maruti Suzuki India is recalling about one lakh units of its flagship export model 'A-Star' to replace a faulty fuel pump part. Kuwait's telecom firm Zain, which is in exclusive talks with Bharti Airtel for sale of its Africa assets, will focus on expanding in the Middle East market. Reliance Capital, which is battling Inox Leisure for acquiring a controlling stake in Fame India, has said that the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) firms' open offer to acquire a controlling stake in the multiplex operator will begin from April 1, at Rs. 83 per share. Chennai-based education and placement company EdServ has acquired Hyderabad-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) provider SchoolMate. Kalpataru Power will raise up to $125 million (about Rs 577 crore) through issue of shares to institutional investors. Indiabulls Real Estate’s board would meet on Thursday to discuss restructuring of its wholesale trading business through demerger. Oil Minister Murli Deora has said Reliance Industries need not club marketing margin with the gas sale price for purpose of calculating royalty, a statement that overturns a suggestion by oil regulator DGH. REC issue oversubscribed 3.12 times.
Texmaco, through a demerger scheme, will transfer its heavy engineering and steel foundry divisions, with all assets and liabilities, to Texmaco Machines, a wholly owned subsidiary. Kraft Foods will soon launch its biscuit, chocolate and snack brands in India, taking advantage of Cadbury’s distribution network, thereby increasing competition for Nestle, Britannia and Unilever. UK based GlaxoSmithKline’s plan to acquire a 5% stake in Dr Reddy’s Labs may not materialize. American Tower Corp has agreed to acquire Essar Telecom Infrastructure in an all cash deal for an enterprise value of $450 million. L&T Infotech plans foray into the BPO segment. Satyam challenges Upaid on taxes and files fresh lawsuit. Nifty near contracts ends the Day up by 13.95 points at a marginal premium of 0.5 points adding OI by 0.4%. Nifty OI PCR at 1.075 compared to 1.038 at the close of last Day.
Nifty puts sees addition of 22.85 Lakhs and calls sees paring of 1.41 Lakhs over the day. Highest OI in Nifty calls seen at 4900 Feb strike and puts at 4800 Feb strike. Nifty VIX at 30.99 from 32.13 last day. Nifty sees 35.31% rollover compared to 35.06% in January. Nifty rollover is lower by 8214 no of contracts compared to January expiry. Market wide rollover at 44.5% compared to 35.82% in Jan expiry and 3 month average of 39.15 and six month average of 40.67%. FII side over the Day saws short covering and marginal long build up in Nifty futures and Nifty options was written. Long build up was seen in stock futures during the Day.