Market may remain choppy

The outcome of the government-Left front meet on nuclear deal scheduled on Friday, 16 November 2007 will dictate the trend on the bourses on Monday, 19 November 2007. The market has been volatile over the past few days on concerns over the impact of the US sub-prime mortgage problems on the US economy. These concerns may continue to cast their shadow on the markets in the weeks to come.

On the flip side, foreign institutional buyers are showing the signs of renewed buying.

Under mounting pressure from the Left parties to clarify its stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the government on, 22 October 2007, said the operationalisation of the deal will take place in accordance with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left joint committee’s recommendations.

The Indo-US nuclear deal will be discussed in the Lok Sabha at a later date on 27 November 2007. Acoording to Parliamentary affairs minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi the government has also proposed discussion in the Rajya Sabha on 28 November 2007. Earlier the dates fixed were 16 November 2007 for the Lok Sabha and 17 November 2007 for Rajya Sabha.

Sensex surged 790.76 points or 4.18% to 19,698.36 in the week ending 16 November 2007. S&P CNX Nifty rose 243.6 points or 4.3% to 5,906.85 in the week.

At current 19,698.36, Sensex trades at a PE multiple of 18.76 to 19.69 based on projected FY 2009 EPS of Rs 1000-to-Rs 1050 for 30 Sensex companies.

India's wholesale price index rose 3.11% in the 12 months to 3 November 2007, above the previous week's rise of 2.97%, government data released today afternoon showed. The annual inflation rate was 5.45% during the corresponding week of the previous year.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) resumed buying in the equities after being heavy sellers initially in the month. They bought shares worth net Rs 788.40 crore on Thursday, 15 November 2007, compared to their buying of Rs 952 crore on Wednesday, 14 November 2007.

The Q2 September 2007 results of India Inc. were decent to strong which means that strong fundamentals would support Indian equities at declines. At the macro level, the India’s economy is expected to post decent to strong growth for a long period of time, mainly due to favourable demographics.