Sensex, Nifty end at record closing high on oil prices fall

03:30pm Market Closing
The market ended at new record closing high on Friday following further fall in crude oil prices after the OPEC decided not to cut output. Hopes of rate cut or indication of rate cut in monetary policy on December 2 also pushed market higher.

The Sensex rose 255.08 points or 0.90 percent to close at 28693.99 and the Nifty climbed 94.05 points or 1.11 percent to 8588.25.

About 1499 shares have advanced, 1521 shares declined, and 99 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Asian Paints, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and M&M were top gainers, up 2.5-7.4 percent.

However, Cairn India fell 4.44 percent followed by Sesa Sterlite with 3 percent loss. Jindal Steel, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, GAIL and Dr Reddy's Labs declined 0.4-0.9 percent.

03:15pm DLF in News
In a temporary relief for realty major DLF, the Supreme Court (SC) today has granted status quo to the Punjab and Haryana High court order directing re-auction of 350 acre land parcel, which was alloted to the company in the year 2009.

The Punjab and Haryana High court had ordered the Haryana Government to scrap this land deal after concerns were raised by the farmers. Also, it had directed re-auction of this land.

The apex court has also issued notice to the Haryana government with respect to the DLF appeal.

DLF was allotted this land at Wazirabad in Gurgaon for Rs 1750 crore. The company emerged as sole bidder in competitive bids after Unitech, Malaysian Consortium dropped out of it on technical grounds. The real estate player had submitted bids for 12,000 per sq mt as against a reserve price for 11,978 per sq mt.

03:00pm NBFCs in Focus
Shares in non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) gained ground today after the Raghuram Rajan-led Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last evening issued final guidelines for allowing the set up of ''payment banks'' and ''small finance banks'' in the country.

Shares of Shriram Transport Finance, Sundaram Finance, SREI Infra Finance, Manappuram Finance and Muthoot Finance surged 3.9 percent to 4.3 percent amid hopes the companies would have a shot at turning themselves into small banks.

The central bank defines a payment bank as one that will be allowed to take deposits and offer remittances up to a small limit (Rs 1 lakh currently) to its customers but cannot lend money. A small finance bank will operate in a similar fashion to a normal bank (by taking deposits, offering withdrawals as well as offering loans) but with a focus on small, underserved areas of the country.

A typical candidate for a payments bank is a telecom company or a retail chain that can tap into its existing captive customers and provide them technology-based financial services such as payments and withdrawals.

While the issue of guidelines pertaining to small banks is expected to pave the way for several non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to convert into one, a move that would also bring them closer to becoming a universal bank in future.

02:45pm Interview
Shobhit Uppal, Deputy Managing Director, Ahluwalia Contracts is confident of the company meeting its topline target of Rs 1100 crore for FY15 and growing at 20-25 percent for FY16-FY17 backed by new orders from the public sector covered with escalation clause. The company has already completed 90 percent of the old low margins orders, said Uppal.

The net order book for the company stands at Rs 3500 crore dividedly equally between public and private. And orders from the private sector are likely to pick up over the next 6-12 months, he added.

On the execution front, he said the pace of execution on the public side has picked up but is still slow on the private sector side because of liquidity issues. 

The company sees re-development and smart cities as future growth drivers.

02:30pm Fiscal Deficit
India's fiscal deficit was Rs 4.76 trillion (USD 76.77 billion) during April-October, or 89.6 percent of the full-year target, government data showed on Friday.

The deficit was 84.4 percent during the comparable period in the previous fiscal year.

Net tax receipts were at Rs 3.69 trillion (USD 59.52 billion) in the first seven months of the current fiscal year that ends in March 2015, reports Reuters.

02:15pm Gold Update
Gold extended losses into a third session today, dropping to a one-week low, on expectations that plunging oil prices could sap inflationary pressure, curbing the metal's appeal as a hedge.

Oil hit four-year lows around USD 70 a barrel, as OPEC resisted the temptation to cut back production following a more than 30 percent plunge in prices since June.

The drop in oil prices, along with the resulting strength in the dollar, hurt gold which is often seen as a hedge.

Spot gold had fallen 0.3 percent to USD 1,187.40 an ounce by 0741 GMT. It hit USD 1,181.30 earlier in the session - its lowest since November 20.

The metal has lost over 1 percent for the week, snapping a three-week rally.

US gold futures slid 1 percent to a session low of USD 1,180.60, reports Reuters.

02:00pm Market Check
The market remained in strong uptrend with the Sensex rising 338.92 points or 1.19 percent to 28777.83 and the Nifty climbing 118.10 points or 1.39 percent to 8612.30.

About 1600 shares have advanced, 1303 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Indian equity market is in a strong bull phase and is looking good at the current levels, Nirmal Jain, chairman, IIFL said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. The valuation of Indian market is fair at the current levels, he said. However, he foresees one bout of correction before Budget.

Meanwhile, the decline in global crude price is likely to benefit paint and tyre companies, he said. On the macro front, it will have a broader positive impact on the India economy and will help soften inflation levels, he added.

Sharing his expectations from December 2 monetary policy, Jain said that the RBI will take into account recent dynamic global developments. He sees 50-60 percent chance of rate cut on Tuesday.

Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank topped the buying list, up 2.5-8 percent. However, Cairn India fell 3.74 percent impacted by fall in crude oil prices. Sesa Sterlite and Bharti Airtel declined 1.5 percent each.

Among midcaps, Jet Airways shot up 20 percent followed by Syndicate Bank, J&K Bank, Sobha Developers and UCO Bank with 6-7 percent gain while Max India, Aban Offshore, Raymond, Sulabh Engineer and AstraZeneca Pharma slipped 3-4 percent.

In macro data to watch out today, second quarter GDP may point to a slowdown in growth rate. CNBC-TV18 poll shows Q2 GDP coming in at 5.2 percent led by slower manufacturing.

01:40pm Bajaj Corp in News
Bajaj Corp said the board of directors of the company today has passed necessary resolution for increase in the limit of total holding of all Registered Foreign Portfolio Investors (RFPI) with existing class of investors namely Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) from existing 24 percent to 49 percent. It is subject to approval by shareholders by way of special resolution.

The board has also approved convening an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the company on December 30, 2014 to seek shareholders approval for the aforesaid increase in limit from existing 24 percent to 49 percent. The stock gained more than 5 percent.

01:25pm Interview
The government on Wednesday hiked the floor area ratio (FAR) to 200 in New Delhi for all plots sized 750 square metre and above. This means that a builder can now construct an additional minimum 4,000 square feet.

Anup Mittal, Chairman of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) feels the recent hike in FAR will not impact any existing projects, in fact, he sees it as a beneficial step for the industry.

Currently, NBCC has 50-60 acres of land around Delhi. Although incremental benefits from hike will be limited for the company, it hopes to develop and build more in upcoming projects, he says in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Going ahead, he expects real estate business revenue to surpass Rs 300 crore in H2FY15 amid higher levels of inventory selling.

01:15pm Nikkei at 2-week high
Japanese stocks rose to a two-week high today as a weaker yen helped exporters, while falling oil prices benefited airline and railway stocks such as ANA Holdings Inc and East Japan Railway Co.

The Nikkei benchmark ended 1.2 percent higher to 17,459.85, the highest closing price since November 14. The benchmark gained 0.6 percent for the week and jumped 6.4 percent for the month, the biggest monthly gain since last November.

Since October 31, the Nikkei gained because of the Bank of Japan's surprise easing and the Government Pension Investment Fund's decision to increase its allocation to Japanese stocks.

Also helping sentiment on Friday was better-than-expected Japanese industrial output, which unexpectedly rose 0.2 percent in October.

Oil prices plunged on Thursday after OPEC chose not to cut production despite huge oversupply and prices sliding by one-third since June, reports Reuters.

01:00pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to see runaway rally on Dalal Street on first day of the December series, reacting to the further softening in Brent crude prices that touched USD 71.25 (in previous session) - the lowest since July 2010 after OPEC decided to keep production targets unchanged.

The 50-share NSE Nifty soared 110.70 points or 1.30 percent to 8604.90 and the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 339.96 points or 1.20 percent to 28778.87 aided by banking & financials, oil and auto stocks.

Advance:decline gap narrowed in afternoon trade but the broader markets maintained strong uptrend. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 1.2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. About 1581 shares have advanced while 1168 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, L&T, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, M&M, Maruti and Tata Steel rallied 2-4.5 percent whereas Sesa Sterlite fell 1.5 percent.

Lower crude prices impacted a basket of stocks today. Oil marketing companies gained between 4-8 percent while Cairn India lost more than 3 percent. Paint and tyre stocks such as Asian Paints and Apollo Tyres also surged 4 percent as they operationally benefit from lower crude prices.

Aviation stocks got a fillip from Brent falling to new lows. Jet Airways gained 20 percent and SpiceJet shot up 13 percent. An ICRA upgrade provided further upside for Jet Airways.

In macro data to watch out today, second quarter GDP may point to a slowdown in growth rate. CNBC-TV18 poll shows Q2 GDP coming in at 5.2 percent led by slower manufacturing.

The other clutch of stocks in focus are smaller NBFCs, microfinance companies such as SKS Microfinance, Manappuram Finance and SE Investments reacting to the final guidelines on small and payment banks that were released last evening. Sundaram Finance told CNBC-TV18 that norms are more attractive for microfinance companies as compared to NBFCs.

12:55pm DLF up over 4%
Supreme Court has granted a relief to DLF in land cancellation case. The court has granted status quo to HC order directing re-auction of land.

Punjab and Haryana HC had cancelled 350 acre land parcel and had directed re-auction of that land.

Supreme Court has issued notice to Haryana government w.r.t DLF appeal.

12:50pm BF Utilities in News
BF Utilities' net profit fell 24.6 percent to Rs 4.3 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 5.7 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income from operations slipped 20 percent to Rs 9.6 crore from Rs 12 crore during the same period.

12:40pm Market Update
The Sensex advanced 321.40 points or 1.13 percent to 28760.31 and the Nifty jumped 107.00 points or 1.26 percent to 8601.20.

About 1564 shares have advanced, 1153 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged.

12:25pm Will Crude fall further?
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries retained its crude production ceiling despite oversupply which led to severe fall in prices with Brent crude falling a four-year low of USD 72 per bbl on Thursday. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Hans Goetti, Head of Investment Asia, BIL said crude prices are likely to fall further.

According to him, Saudis are targeting the US oil shale industry and lower crude oil prices also tend to hurt economies like Russia and Iran. He expects crude prices to fall up to USD 55 per barrel though that level will not hold for very long, but could see some consolidation move between USD 75-80 per barrel level, he added.

Meanwhile, Goetti does not see a return in crude prices to USD 90 per barrel or above any time soon.  ''There seems pretty much oil around and it's not necessarily the lack of demand but it's an oversupply globally,'' said Goetti.

12:15pm Divestment in PSU banks
The government is considering a plan to reduce stakes in state-run banks to 52 percent that could enable it to raise about Rs 89,120 crore (USD 14.39 billion), Jayant Sinha, junior finance minister told lawmakers today.

The government holds stakes ranging from 56 percent to 84 percent in the state-run banks that account for 70 percent of India's total outstanding loans of about USD 1 trillion.

"The reduction of government of India share in equity capital of PSBs (public sector banks) to 52 percent will enable mobilisation of about 891.20 billion rupees," Sinha said in a written statement.

He said the stake sale will enable the government to scale back its budgetary support for the banks.

India's 26 state-run banks, which include State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda need as much as USD 60 billion in new capital over the next few years to meet upcoming global regulations and to build a buffer against rising bad loans.

According to the central bank's estimates, the government would need to inject as much as Rs 2.4 trillion into state-owned banks by end March 2019 to meet capital requirements including Basel III, provisioning for asset quality, and additional risks, reports Reuters.

12:00pm Market Check
The market maintained its strong run in noon trade. The Sensex rose 376.58 points or 1.32 percent to 28815.49, and the Nifty climbed 119.50 points or 1.41 percent to 8613.70.

About 1595 shares have advanced, 1034 shares declined, and 91 shares are unchanged on the BSE.
 
India's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank are top contributors to the Sensex rally, up 4.15 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Rivals HDFC Bank and Axis Bank climbed 1.6 percent and 3.3 percent while housing finance company HDFC rose 1.44 percent on hopes of either rate cut or indication of likely rate cut in RBI monetary policy meeting held on December 2.

Bank of Baroda, Asian Paints, Punjab National Bank and IndusInd Bank are top gainers in the Nifty, rising 5-7 percent. Shares of Tata Motors, L&T, Reliance Industries, M&M, Maruti, Hero Motocorp and Tata Steel advanced 1-3 percent.

However, Cairn India fell 3.3 percent amid expectations of falling crude prices would eat into its refining margins. Sesa Sterlite declined 1.5 percent followed by Bajaj Auto, HUL, Bharti Airtel and BHEL with moderate losses.

Shares of firms that have a direct positive impact from falling crude oil prices - oil retailers, aviation firms, paints and tyre companies (where crude is a vital input) - are among the biggest gainers in the broader market, which itself gained over 1 percent. These stocks rallied 3-20 percent.

Brent crude oil prices have fallen from a high of USD 115 per barrel this year to USD 72 a barrel amid weak global demand and rising output, and the development is expected to be a broad positive for the Indian economy, a significant oil importer, as well as a large number of companies.

11:50am Gainers and Losers
Bank of Baroda, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and Punjab National Bank are the top gainers in the Nifty with a 3 percent to 7 percent rise.

11 stocks out of the Nifty 50, however, are decliners, led by Cairn India, which fell 3.3 percent, amid expectations falling crude prices would eat into its refining margins.

Barring telecom, which is trading pressured after the TRAI issued fresh pricing recommendations for the upcoming spectrum auction, all sectors are in the green, with banks and chemicals rising over 2.5 percent.

Bank of Baroda, BPCL, Castrol, Century Ply, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Jet Airways and Yes Bank are at 52-week highs.

11:35am Nifty at 8600
The market touched another record high in late morning trade with the Nifty crossing 8600-mark supported by banks and autos, up 106.05 points or 1.25 percent to 8600.25. The Sensex climbed 318.37 points or 1.12 percent to 28757.28.

About 1566 shares have advanced, 975 shares declined, and 89 shares are unchanged.

The Indian equity market is in a strong bull phase and is looking good at the current levels, Nirmal Jain, chairman, IIFL said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. The valuation of Indian market is fair at the current levels, he said. However, he foresees one bout of correction before Budget.

Meanwhile, the decline in global crude price is likely to benefit paint and tyre companies, he said. On the macro front, it will have a broader positive impact on the India economy and will help soften inflation levels, he added.

Sharing his expectations from December 2 monetary policy, Jain said that the RBI will take into account recent dynamic global developments. He sees 50-60 percent chance of rate cut on Tuesday.

11:30am BSE Market Cap at Rs 100 trillion
Scaling a new peak, the total investor wealth in Indian stock market today hit a record high of Rs 100 trillion, marking a jump of ten times in little over a decade.

Measured in terms of total market capitalisation of all listed companies on the country's biggest bourse BSE, the overall investor wealth in the Indian stock market rose to Rs 100.01 lakh crore in early morning trade at 10:05 hours IST as benchmark Sensex soared by over 300 points in its continuing record rally.

The total market cap of all BSE listed companies had crossed Rs 10 lakh crore mark nearly 11 years ago in 2003, while it has doubled from about Rs 50 lakh crore five years ago in 2009.

The 30 Sensex companies alone, which are among the biggest companies in the country, now account for nearly 50 percent or about Rs 47 lakh crore of total investor wealth. This included TCS, the country's most valued firm and the only entity to have a market value of over Rs 5 lakh crore, followed by state-run ONCG and private sector behemoth Reliance Industries with market caps of over Rs 3 lakh crore each.

Those commanding market cap of over Rs 2 lakh crore include ITC, Infosys, HDFC Bank, SBI and Coal India. Besides, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Sun Pharma, HUL, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Wipro, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, NTPC and Axis Bank have market cap of over Rs 1 lakh crore each. Among these, ICICI Bank is very close to moving into Rs 2 lakh crore club, reports PTI.

11:15am Stocks in News
Jet Airways surged 13 percent as the airline company is a big beneficiary of crude price fall and also as credit rating agency ICRA upgraded company to BB or stable rating from 'C'. ICRA says the rating upgrade takes into account the improvement in the liquidity and credit profile of the company, arising from improved operating performance as well as support from its strategic partner Etihad Airways.

Small bank hopefuls like SREI Infra, Manappuram General and SKS Microfinance amongst others gained 2-4 percent in trade as the RBI notified final guidelines for conversion of an NBFC to a small bank.

JP Morgan believes the NBFCs that are eligible will likely choose to convert to a "small bank" as convergence on regulatory norms have already been laid out and as such there is no advantage in remaining a NBFC.

Just Dial climbed 2.3 percent as RBI says FIIs/RFPIs can now invest up to 75 percent in company. Current FII holding is at 26.64 percent as of September 2014.

Container Corporation fell nearly 5 percent as the Indian Railways has levied a 10 percent port congestion surcharge for all 'incoming' cargo movement from key ports.

11:00am Market Check
The market maintained strong early gains supported by banking & financials and auto stocks. The Sensex surged 299.20 points or 1.05 percent to 28738.11 and the Nifty rose 93.50 points or 1.10 percent to 8587.70.

The broader markets remained strong too. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 1.3 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. About 1524 shares have advanced while 840 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Oil marketing companies like BPCL, HPCL and IOC shot up 4-9 percent while paint companies like Asian Paints, Shalimar Paints, Berger Paints and Kansai Nerolac rallied 3-6 percent after fall in Brent crude oil prices. Tyre stocks like JK Tyre, Apollo Tyres and Ceat climbed 1-4 percent.

10:45am Airline stocks in demand
Shares in SpiceJet and Jet Airways surged 6 percent and 12 percent, respectively, in early trade following hopes that the recent fall in international crude oil prices would lead to oil marketing companies cutting aviation turbine fuel (also known as jet fuel) prices.

International prices have fallen from a peak of about USD 115 per barrel this year to about USD 75, a four-year low, amid weak global demand and increasing output.

A Reuters report yesterday said traders are pricing in a cut in ATF prices in December.

Fuel charges amount to one-third to a half of an airline's operating expenses.

10:30am Interview
8K Miles Software Services, the global secure cloud solutions company, through its US subsidiary announced the acquisition of SERJ Solutions. SERJ provides innovative Epic EHR consulting, custom application development, and support solutions for the healthcare market.

Suresh Venkatachari, chairman & CEO, 8K Miles in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said the company has paid Rs 15.8 crore for the acquisition and the funding was through internal accruals and warrant issue. Serj currently generate revenues to the tune of Rs 35-40 crore, he added.

The company is also looking at one or two more acquisition opportunities in the near-term and is likely to complete an acquisition in FY15. They are looking at opportunities in healthcare and life sciences space. "Our intention is to leverage our cloud based offering to this domain mathematical. So, what we are looking at is a strong domain technology company where we can able to integrate with our cloud, secure cloud offering and we can offer as software service or planning services," said Venkatachari.

Serj has no debt on the books and neither does 8K Miles except line of credit, he said.

10:20am Just Dial in focus
Just Dial gained nearly 3 percent as RBI says FIIs/RFPIs can now invest up to 75 percent under PIS in the company.

"The Reserve Bank of India has advised that foreign institutional investors (FIIs)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) can now invest up to 75 percent (revised from earlier limit of 49 percent) of the paid up capital of Just Dial Limited under the Portfolio Investment Scheme," said the RBI.

The Reserve Bank has stated that the company has passed resolutions at its Board of Directors' level and a special resolution by the shareholders, agreeing for enhancing the limit for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by FIIs.

10:10am Market Expert
Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS is bullish on the Indian market and sees the Nifty rising to 8,750 this month. In an interview to CNBC-TV18 he said that medium term base for the Nifty has moved up to 8,000 levels.

Sharing views on the much-waited December 2 monetary policy, he said that the current trend of falling crude oil price open up possibility of an earlier than anticipated rate cut. He is hoping RBI governor Rajan to slash rates in the upcoming policy. ''If rate cut is not announced on December 2nd, then the market could see a mild negative reaction,'' he added.

10:00am Market Check
Bulls kept complete control over bears on Dalal Street. The market continued to trade near record high following the OPEC's decision of not cutting oil output. Paint, tyre, airline etc companies rallied on hopes of fall in raw material prices after Brent crude oil prices hit fresh four-year low of USD 71.25 a barrel in previous trade.

The Sensex shot up 319.05 points or 1.12 percent to 28757.96 and the Nifty climbed 98.15 points or 1.16 percent to 8592.35. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1440 to 552 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and housing finance company HDFC rallied 1-4 percent on hopes of indication of rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India in its monetary police on December 2 (next week) after falling oil prices in international market.

09:50am Global Update
Oil prices, oil-related shares and oil-linked currencies all tumbled in Asia on Friday, in the wake of OPEC's decision to refrain from cutting output despite a huge oversupply.

US markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, leaving the spotlight on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' meeting in Vienna where Saudi Arabia blocked calls from poorer cartel members to cut production to stem a slide in global prices.

Crude prices had been under pressure ahead of the meeting, but the sharp dive afterward - the largest since 2011 - showed the decision was not fully priced in.

Brent crude stood at USD 72.60 a barrel after settling at a four-year closing low on Thursday, poised to fall more than 15 percent for its steepest monthly decline since November 2008. US crude was last down 6.5 percent at USD 68.93, reports Reuters.

09:40am Market Expert
Market expert Anand Tandon expects Indian equities to perform well in December.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 he said, given that there is positive trigger in the form of steep fall in global crude prices, the market will do well in the December series. However, the issue of divestment of public sector units continues to remain an overhang on the market, he added.

09:15am Market Check
Equity benchmarks started of December series on a strong note with the Sensex and Nifty hitting an all-time highs led by banking and financials. The OPEC's decision of not to cut oil output pushed the market to new high.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 301.36 points or 1.06 percent to 28740.27 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 89.15 points or 1.05 percent to 8583.35.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained nearly 1 percent. About 1080 shares have advanced, 269 shares declined, and 33 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

ICICI Bank, SBI, M&M, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, BPCL, Asian Paints and Jindal Steel topped the buying list, up 2-4 percent while Gail and Infosys are marginally in red.

Cairn India fell 3.56 percent and DLF declined 1.59 percent.

Indian rupee has opened lower by 6 paise at 61.93 a dollar on Friday, compared to previous day's closing value of 61.87 per dollar.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity says investors are likely to trade cautiously today as markets are already trading near all-time high levels & investors are short of confidence & are unsure of market upside.

According to him, the rupee is expected to trade rangebound to slightly weak, taking cues from a strong Dollar. "Range for the day is seen between 61.40-62.20/dollar," he adds.

On the global front, Asian markets were mixed with the Japan's Nikkei rising a percent on a weaker yen and falling oil prices.

Crude prices tumbled to 4-year lows, after top oil producing nations decided not to cut the output. UAE oil minister said they are not panicking and have left the production target unchanged.