Pre-market: Sensex to see a cautious opening

The markets are likely to open on a cautious note and consolidate at the current levels after the short covering seen yesterday.

Overnight, the US markets ended on a flat note. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3 per cent to 13,125 levels, while the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.2 per cent to 1,403.

Asian shares inched up on Thursday but remained range-bound as investors waited for manufacturing data from China and the euro-zone due this session for more clues about the state of their economies.

The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index was up 0.1 per cent while Japan's Nikkei average opened down 0.3 per cent.

Back home, the Nifty is likely to face resistance around 5,410 – 5,435, and can seek support around 5,320 – 5,290 levels technical analysts suggest. The SGX Nifty was trading at 5365 levels, down 36 points.

Among individual stocks, Punjab National Bank has secured shareholders’ approval for raising capital up to Rs 2,875 crore by preferential issue of share to government and LIC.

The Unitech Group has agreed in principle to sell its stake in Uninor to joint venture partner Telenor at a fair value.

Promoters of Godrej Properties have decided to test the institutional placement programme route to sell a 10.6 per cent stake in the company at a price between Rs 575-620 per share.

JSW Steel has informed that one of its promoters, JSW Investments, has raised stake in the company to 3.67 per cent by acquiring additional shares for Rs 2 crore.

Foreign fund house Copthall Mauritius Investments has bought 16 million shares of LIC Housing Finance from the open market for about Rs 410 crore.