Stock market is set for volatile times ahead with two crucial events - the fate of steel giant Tata Steel's bid for Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus and RBI's stance on the country's interest rate regime likely to hog limelight next week. The outcome of the bidding war for UK-based Corus through an auction process, beginning on Tuesday and scheduled to end latest by Thursday, would be a deciding force for share price movement of Tata Steel, which is pitched against Brazil's CSN.The auction would also affect considerably the other steel stocks, as the analysts expect the result of this battle to be a major benchmark for any further consolidation in this space.Meanwhile, the market is also eagerly awaiting Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy meeting on January 31, when the central bank is expected to take a call on its benchmark short-term interest rates.The RBI's decision would be crucial, given the fact that inflation has recently surged to a two-year high of 6.12%, which is beyond the central bank's targeted range of 5.0-5.55%.Though the inflation rate eased a bit last week on the back of falling food prices, the market observers believe an interest rate rise is still in the offing as part of measures to be taken by RBI to control inflation and a swarming credit growth."The Ministry of Finance is in touch with both RBI and Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. We will watch the situation carefully and take whatever steps required to be taken," Chidambaram had said when Inflation sky-rocketed to 6.12% earlier this month.
