• The key benchmark indices may gain snapping last two days of losses on higher Asian stocks. Asian stocks gained on Monday after a smaller-than-estimated increase in U.S. consumer prices eased concern the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates. The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose by between 0.51% to 3.16%. But China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.16%.

• US stocks closed higher after a see-saw session on Friday, 19 February 2010 as investors worried the eventual withdrawal of easy money will hurt Wall Street. Stocks on Wall Street closed out their best week of the year after a volatile session as investors weighed the Federal Reserve decision late Thursday to raise its discount rate for banks by one-quarter percentage point to 0.75 percent.

• Closer home the country needs to urgently import 3-5 million tonnes of white sugar and may ship in rice to calm food prices, a top aide of the prime minister said, signalling a tighter supply situation than previous estimates.

• The government should begin to lower its fiscal deficit in the budget set to be announced this week but should not cut capital spending on infrastructure, a top government panel said on Friday. The panel also projected economic growth of at least 8.2 % in 2010/11, from over 7.2 % forecast for the current fiscal year.

• The next major trigger for the stock market is the Union Budget 2010-2011 on 26 February 2010. Among the key issues, analysts and economists expect the Finance Minister to provide a road map for the introduction of the key direct and indirect tax reforms viz. the direct tax code (DTC) and the Goods & Services Tax (GST) in the Budget. The GST will enable the Indian corporate sector to get much-needed relief from a multiplicity of state and Central taxes. However, several critical issues need to be resolved before it can be put in place. The Finance Minister must utilize this opportunity to effect a smooth transition to this new system.

• The Finance Minster may project a lower fiscal deficit for 2010-11 based on higher revenue projections due to economic rebound. It remains to be seen if there are structural reforms to reduce the subsidy burden such as decontrol of petrol and diesel prices as recommended by the Kirit Parikh committee recently.