The Federal Reserve may raise the discount rate.

The Federal Reserve may raise the discount rate “before long” as part of the “normalization” of Fed lending, a move that won’t signal any change in the outlook for monetary policy, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said. European Union leaders may lay the groundwork today for a precedent-setting aid package for Greece in a bid to shield the euro currency from the wrath of markets. Germany and France set the stage for a Brussels summit by working on options such as loan guarantees as long as Prime Minister George Papandreou overcomes street protests and makes deeper cuts to the EU’s biggest budget deficit. The US December trade gap widened to $40.2 billion in December from a revised $36.4 billion in November, the government reported Wednesday morning. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would narrow to $35.8 billion. The widening reflected a pick-up in imports amid the recovering economy.
A first step could be taken in the Union Budget, towards stimulus rollback, in the form of a two-percentage point hike in the Cenvat rate for excise duty. Congress was confronted with resistance from allies on the issue of fuel price hike and the government has put the proposal, to hike prices of petro products, on hold. Residential property prices are likely to rise by up to 10 per cent in the next six months as demand has picked up according to Cushman & Wakefield. Finance minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee has pegged 2009-10 economic growth at around 7.75 per cent, higher than the government's forecast. India has begun the process of introducing fourth-generation (4G) mobile wireless broadband services, even though the government has yet to finalise a date for its long-pending 3G spectrum auction.
The foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country jumped 13.2 per cent to $1.54 billion in December against $1.36 billion in December 2008, according to the latest RBI bulletin. The credit growth of banks stood at around 14.4 per cent, for the fortnight ended January 29, building expectations that it could reach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) projection of 16 per cent by end of the current fiscal. Centre plans freeze on F&O trade, temporarily, in shares of companies opting for FPO.
IT major, Wipro Ltd is looking at acquisitions in the telecom, healthcare and energy utilities segments in the near future. Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, expects to purchase an additional 4.9 per cent stake in Uttam Galva.
NIIT Technologies has received a Rs 228 order from Border Security Force (BSF), the country's premier paramilitary force. Unitech received Rs 2,022 crore from Telenor Aisa Pte Ltd on acquisition of further 7.15% stake in Unitech Wireless, a subsidiary of the company, by way of issuance of fresh shares. DLF plans to raise Rs 1,000 crore through unsecured loans by the end of this month, while hinting that prices in the housing segment could witness an increase. Fortis Healthcare plans to raise Rs 1,250 crore by issuing shares or debentures to meet its funding requirements for addressing various growth opportunities. Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has bagged three road projects worth Rs 2,860 cr in West Bengal from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). IT software products manufacturer Subex Ltd has entered into a multi-million dollar pact with a US-based communication services provider to put into use a cost management software. Essar Steel plans to raise $1 billion from overseas market to expand steel capacity in India and abroad. Kingfisher Airlines is likely to come out with a 1:1 rights issue to mop up Rs. 400 cr. Hindalco proposes to raise debt of Rs. 4900 cr in the next two weeks to achieve financial closure for Utkal Alumina Refinery project. Nifty near contracts ends the Day down by 42.20 points at a discount of 6.05 points adding OI by 3.8%. Nifty OI PCR at 0.991 compared to 1.058 previous day. Nifty puts sees paring of 3.29 Lakhs and calls sees addition of 36.67 Lakhs over the day. Highest OI in Nifty calls seen at 5000 Feb strike and puts at 4800 Feb strike. In the money put options saw paring of OI and put addition was seen in the lower strikes of 4500, 4300 and 4400 strikes.
4900 Feb Nifty calls sees addition of 11.9 Lakhs during the session. Nifty VIX at 30.55 from 29.91 last day. Long build up seen in INDIAINFO, BPCL, ULTRACEMCO, JINDALSAW, HINDPETRO & IOC etc Short build up seen in SUNTV, EDUCOMP, YESBANK, CIPLA, PUNJLLOYD, BALRAMCHIN, M&M, TATASTEEL, SAIL & HINDZINC. FII side during the day sees significant short covering in Nifty futures. Nifty options was seem to be bought and short covering was seen in stock futures.