The Indian market is likely to witness a soft-to-flat opening on concerns over the geo-political tensions in Korea and the slowing pace of the global economic recovery. Tensions in Asia spooked the US markets overnight causing key indices to drop between 1% and 1.5%. Markets in Asia were mixed in morning trade on Wednesday on account of the developments in the Korean peninsula and on the lingering debt crisis in Europe. The SGX Nifty was up eight points at 5,942, as compared to its previous close of 5,934.

The domestic market was highly volatile yesterday on the back of the developments along the Korean border and over concerns over the political future of the UPA-led government, which has been rocked by corruption allegations. The Sensex opened at 19,841.42; 116.17 points lower compared to its previous close of 19,957.59. It hit an intraday low of 19,342.69-which is the maximum low in the past three months from 16 September 2010 and closed at 19,691.84, 265.75 points down (1.33%) from the previous day's close. The Nifty ended 75.25 points down (1.25%) to 5,934.75.

The US markets closed sharply lower on Tuesday following tensions after North Korea artillery shells at a South Korean island. In economic news, the Federal Reserve on Tuesday revised downwards economic growth forecasts for next year. Besides, a fall in sales of existing homes in October made investors wary of the pace of economic growth in the world’s largest economy.

The Dow tumbled 142.21 points (1.27%) to 11,036. The S&P 500 shed 17.11 points (1.43%) to 1,180. The Nasdaq declined 37.07 points (1.46%) 2,495.

Markets in Asia were mixed due to tensions in Korean peninsula and on continuing debt problems faced by members of the European Union further aggravated by rating agency S&P cutting Ireland’s credit rating. The pace of economic recovery in the US, punctuated by the Fed’s lowering of economic growth forecasts for the next year also played on investors’ minds.

The Shanghai Composite surged 0.85%, the Hang Seng jumped 1.08%, the KLSE Composite gained 0.11%, the Straits Times advanced 0.70% and the Taiwan Weighted rose 0.03%. On the other hand, the Nikkei 225 tanked 0.75% and the Seoul Composite lost 0.23% in early trade this morning. . The SGX Nifty was up eight points at 5,942, as compared to its previous close of 5,934.

A committee appointed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India has opposed listing of stock exchanges on bourses arguing that any downward movement of their share prices could hit the credibility of the market institutions.

The recommendation of the Bimal Jalan Committee, if accepted, would derail the plans of the country's two premier bourses—the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE)—to go public.

In another development, the MCX Stock Exchange on Tuesday said the recommendations made by a SEBI-appointed committee on bourses would promote monopoly and anti-competitive business practices in the market.

Without naming the largest stock exchange NSE, rival MCX-SX said the recommendations made by the Bimal Jalan committee “would continue to protect the monopolistic market structure and the perverse anti-competitive practices adopted by some.”