Falling equities, weaker US economic data and fear of larger than expected rate cuts by the ECB and the ECB later this week kept the pressure on the majors today as GBP, EURO, Swissy and CAD gave back recent gains. Traders note stops were part of today's trade but thin conditions remained a contributing factor likely making the moves a bit bigger than would normally be the case. Analysts are now expecting a full 100 BP rate cut by the BOE on Thursday this week and traders sold GBP across the board today.

State owned air carrier, Air India has decided to slash the fuel surcharge by Rs 400 for all routes. This would pave the way for cheaper air travel and tariff revision by the private carriers. Currently, domestic carriers are charging a fuel surcharge of Rs 2,350 per passenger for distance up to 750 km and Rs 3,100 for above 750 km. Surcharge was increased following the significant increase in the crude oil price in the international market, around three months ago. The fuel surcharge for the short flights now would be Rs 1,950 as compared to Rs 2,350.

The private equity major Blackstone Group formed a new venture by acquiring 55 per cent stakes in IT infrastructure management and outsourcing unit of Mumbai-based CMS Computers. It would deal in card solutions, transaction printing solutions and ATM cash management. The company is believed to be valued at Rs 500-550 crore. CMS is among the top 5 IT infrastructure management companies in India which was founded in 1976 by Ramesh Grover, Varun Prasad and S Ramadorai.

India's manufacturing segment has stared to be impacted by global slowdown. It was insulated from meltdown till October and expanded despite unfavorable financial conditions. The ABN Amro's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for India slipped to 45.8 following low demand. PMI is considered as a scale to determine the performance of manufacturing sector. It was started in 2005 and registered decline in manufacturing segment for first time.

The six month ban on futures trading in four commodities namely soya oil, potato, rubber and chickpeas lapsed on November 30. The ban on these four agricultural commodities was imposed in order to control inflation. It was due to lapse on September 30 but was extended owing to the high inflation rate in that period. Inflation rate currently stands at 8.84%, from the 16-year high of 12.9% in August.