Market may open slightly higher.Key benchmark indices slumped to hit their lowest level in more than two weeks on Thursday, 22 March 2012 as the parliament was rocked following reports of an alleged coal scam to the tune of Rs 10.67 lakh crore. The BSE Sensex shed 405.24 points or 2.3% to settle at 17,196.47, its lowest closing level since 7 March 2012.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 246.56 crore on Thursday, 22 March 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. FIIs have made substantial purchases of Indian stocks recently. Their inflow totaled Rs 7296.02 crore in ten trading sessions from 9 to 22 March 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.