Market may remain positive

Equities are likely to open higher on Friday on the back of strong global cues. US stocks surged on Thursday on optimism that a plan announced by President George Bush to stem US home foreclosures would keep the economy from sliding into a recession.

Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 174.93 points or 1.30 per cent to end at 13,619.89, a day after it gained nearly 200 points. Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 22.33 points or 1.50 per cent to 1,507.34. Nasdaq Composite Index soared 42.67 points or 1.60 per cent to 2,709.03.

Asian stocks picked US cues with Nikkei climbing 0.93 per cent, Hang Seng up 1.15 per cent and Shanghai adding 0.3 per cent.

“Technical indicators showed the market was in an over bought zone on Thursday morning, so the momentum eased in the latter half of the day. But the undertone remains strong; there are no signs of weakness,” said Suresh Kumar Iyer, technical analyst at Asit C Mehta Investment Interrmediates.

Thursday, National Stock Exchange’s Nifty soared to an all-time high of 6027.05 before settling at 5954.7, up 15 points or 0.25 per cent from the previous close.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended up 58 points or 0.29 per cent at 19,795.87. From an intra-day high of 20,064.31, the index dipped to 19,716.57 before the close.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of equity worth Rs 492.1 crore, while mutual funds net bought Rs 227.54 crore, according to provisional data on NSE.