Weak trend may prevail

The sentiment remains bearish on weak global markets and select investors booking profits on the eve of the Diwali festival. The wait for the Sensex to breach the 18k level may happen soon, provided the sentiment turns bullish in the next few sessions and India inc provide some encouraging quarterly numbers. Due to weak Asian indices in morning the local market may open negative . On the technical front, the Nifty could test the 5750 level and has a support at the 5550 level in the short-term, while the Sensex has a likely support at 18000 and may face resistance at 19000.

US indices ended lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones closing below 13000 at 12987, 55 points down. The Nasdaq lost 44 points at 2584.

All the Indian ADRs on US bourses ended in the red. HDFC Bank was the biggest looser and dropped 8.03% while MTNL, Infosys & ICICI Bank was down by 4% each. Rediff, VSNL, MTNL, Satyam and Tata Motors lost over 1-2% each. However Wipro and Dr Reddy lost marginally.

Crude oil prices inched lower, with the Nymex light crude oil for December delivery slipping by $1.70 at $94.62 a barrel. In the commodity segment, the Comex gold for December series lost $27 to settle at $807.70 an ounce.