Opening Bell 22 Nov | Markets eye winter session of Parliament

Mumbai: All eyes are on the winter session of the parliament which will kick off today. A number of bills are lined up for approval, but there may be opposition to the insurance, pension and land bills, said economists. The direction of reforms in the coming months will dictate the strength of the government.

US markets finished higher, a day before the Thanksgiving holiday, gaining support from positive economic data, reports Financial Times. Initial jobless claims last week fell, in line with market expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 were up between 0.2-0.3% each. US markets will be shut for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Asian markets were trading on a mixed note on Thursday morning; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1% while China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.8%. China’s manufacturing PMI showed its first expansion this year. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was up 1%, getting yet another boost from declining yen.

In India, government has allowed Life Insurance Corporation of India to increase the maximum stake it can hold in other companies to 30%. This will help the government kick off divestment in state-owned firms and raise Rs 30,000 crore by the end of March next year.

Hindustan Copper may see some action as the divestment of 9.59% stake in the state-owned company may flag off this Friday via an auction route, reports Business Standard. Stake sale of NMDC and Oil India is lined up for December.

SpiceJet may continue to remain in focus after Kalanithi Maran and his wife Kavery left the board of KAL Airways which owns 48.6% of the carrier, reports Mint. The management doused speculation of possible stake sale and said that it was organizational restructuring.

Realty stocks may rally after Finance Minister asked banks to fund residential projects to revive sluggish growth, reports Economic Times. P Chidambaram asked banks to fund the residential projects which are stuck because of lack of funds.

Mahindra Satyam will be in focus following reports that it has been served a notice in connection with a money laundering case involving its previous management. The Enforcement Directorate has asked Satyam to provide evidence and information related to the fixed deposits

There are no takers for the Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure pipeline because of high valuation, reports Business Standard. Oil India has withdrawn from the bidding race, while GAIL has put its proposal on hold because the companies find the price of Rs 14,000 crore for the east-west pipeline expensive.

Lastly, Afzal Guru, whom the Supreme Court has convicted for the dastardly attack on Parliament in 2001 may move up the queue of those sentenced to death after Ajmal Kasab was hanged on Wednesday morning, reports Times of India.