Pre Session Commentary - May 22 2008

The Indian Market is expected to have a negative opening as the US market closed in deep red and the Asian markets are trading weak. On Wednesday, the Indian market closed with marginally higher after smart recovery from its initial losses. The market lacked the investor’s active participation till mid session on the back of surging crude oil prices above $132 a barrel as well as inflation worries. Though the market opened on the weak note but made a smart turnaround after the mid session due to selective buying across the counters. Irrespective of the negative cues, the oil and gas stocks shines through out the trading session. The BSE Sensex closed marginally higher by 12.98 at 17,243.16 and NSE Nifty also increased by 12.7 points to close at 5,117.65. We expect that the market may remain cautious during the trading session and would look for cues to take further direction.

On Wednesday, the US market closed in red. The US stocks tumbled amid fears the US economy faces stagflation after the Federal Reserve reduced its economic growth forecasts while raising estimates for inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed lower by 227.49 points at 12,601.19 along with NASDAQ fell by 43.99 points to close at 2,448.27 and S&P 500 dropped by 22.69 points to close at 1,390.71.

Indian ADRS ended down. In technology sector Wipro fell by (2.19%) along with Satyam by (1.42%), Patni Computers by (1.09%) and Infosys by (0.90%). In banking sector, HDFC bank and ICICI bank slipped by (5.20%) and (4.76%) respectively. In telecommunication sector, Tata Communication and MTNL decreased by (1.81%) and (1.00%). Sterlite industries declined by (0.04%).

Today the major stock markets in Asia are trading weak. Hang Seng index is trading lower by 565.63 points at 24,894.66 along with Japan’s Nikkei trading down by 164.03 points at 13,762.27 and Taiwan Weighted trading at 8,929.46 down by 86.11 points.

The FIIs Wednesday stood as net seller in equity and debt also. The gross equity purchased was Rs3,119.70 Crore and the gross debt purchased was Rs0.00 Crore while the gross equity sold stood at Rs3,439.50 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs99.20 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity reported was (Rs319.80)Crore and net debt was (Rs99.20)Crore.

Today, Nifty has support at 4,991 and resistance at 5,174 and BSE Sensex has support at 16,853 and resistance at 17,453.