Indian shares to open higher, rate review watched

MUMBAI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Indian shares are expected to
start higher on Tuesday, with banks in focus as investors await
a central bank monetary policy review at around 11:15 a.m.
(0545 GMT).

A slight majority of analysts expect the central bank to
hold its key lending rate steady although a cut is expected
before the end of March, a Reuters poll showed. [ID:nBOM383332]

The central bank said on Monday the balance of risks on the
growth outlook for Asia's third-largest economy had tilted
towards the downside due to the global slowdown and
deterioration in world financial markets. [ID:nBOM418645]

"We may open slightly better as Nikkei is in the positive,"
said V.K. Sharma, head of research at Anagram Stock Broking.
Most other Asian markets were closed for the Lunar New Year
holiday.

By 0315 GMT, Japan's Nikkei .N225 was up 3.5 percent led
by exporters on softer yen, while the MSCI index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 1.1
percent.

Nifty index futures in Singapore SINc1 were up 1.8
percent, indicating a stronger open in the domestic market.
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0322 GMT-------------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 836.57 0.56% 4.620
USD/JPY JPY= 89.45 0.51% 0.450
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.6549 -- 0.009
SPOT GOLD XAU= 903.45 0.09% 0.800
US CRUDE CLc1 45.96 0.50% 0.230
DOW JONES .DJI 8116.03 0.48% 38.47
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 85.28 -0.29% -0.25
-------------------------------------------------------------

STOCKS TO WATCH

* Satyam Computer Services (SATY.BO), after engineering and
construction firm Larsen & Toubro (LART.BO) said it had raised
its holding in the fraud-hit outsourcer to 12 percent.
[ID:nBOM389243]

* Top lender State Bank of India, after its quarterly
profit rose 37 percent meeting forecasts. [ID:nBOM264735]

* ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO), after the No. 2 lender reported an
unexpected 3.4 percent rise in quarterly profit as earnings
from fees and bond trading offset slowing credit growth and
rise in bad loans. [ID:nBOM371990]

* State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.BO), after it
signed a deal to explore for oil and gas in the Satpayev block
in Kazakhstan.

* Everest Kanto Cylinders (EKCL.BO), after its board
approved an initial investment of 62 million rupees to buy a
majority stake in a Kolkata-based compressed natural gas
supplier.

* Results on Tuesday include: Steel Authority of India
(SAIL.BO), Corporation Bank CRBKBO, EIH Ltd (EIHO.BO), Sesa
Goa Ltd (SESA.BO), Central Bank of India (CBI.BO), UTV Software
Communications Ltd (UTVS.BO), Sun TV Network Ltd (SUTV.BO),
Cyber Media (India) Ltd (CYBM.BO), Amara Raja Batteries Ltd
(AMAR.BO), Educomp Solutions Ltd (EDSO.BO), Entertainment
Network India Ltd (ENIL.BO), Zicom Electronic Security Systems
Ltd (ZICO.BO), Godawari Power and Ispat Ltd (GDPI.BO), Emami
Ltd (EMAM.BO), Gemini Communications Ltd (GEMC.BO), Rural
Electrification Corp Ltd (RURL.BO), Varun Shipping Co Ltd
(VRNS.BO), Cadila Healthcare Ltd (CADI.BO), Century Textiles &
Industries Ltd (CNTY.BO), Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Ltd
(ANSP.BO), Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd (GAIN.BO),
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd (GLEN.BO), Cummins India Ltd
(CUMM.BO), Piramal Life Sciences Ltd (PLSL.BO), Natco Pharma
Ltd (NATP.BO), NOCIL Ltd (NOCI.BO), ABG Shipyard Ltd (ABGS.BO),
Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd (PNCL.BO), GlaxoSmithKline
Consumer Healthcare Ltd (GLSM.BO), Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd
(MOSS.BO), Jubilant Organosys Ltd (JUBO.BO), Opto Circuits
(India) Ltd (OPTO.BO), Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd (GFCL.BO),
Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd (NGCN.BO), HCL Infosystems Ltd
(HCLI.BO), Godrej Industries Ltd (GODI.BO).

FACTORS TO WATCH
* Indian rupee report
[INR/]
* Indian bond report
[IN/]
* FOREX-Yen dips as risk appetite improves
[FRX/]
* Oil slips as dealers see more U.S. stock builds
[O/R]
* Asia shares gain, Japan up 3.5 pct
[MKTS/GLOB]
* Wall St up as home sales jump, Pfizer spurs hope
[.N]
* For closing rates of Indian ADRs
INADR (Reporting by Ami Shah & Aniruddha Basu; Editing by
Ranjit Gangadharan)