Market likely to open lower

Local benchmark indices are likely to open lower dampened by serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, which rocked the nation last week. Global cues were mixed. Crude oil also edged higher after a sharp correction from record high last week. US light crude for September delivery rose 46 cents to $123.72 a barrel.

In the near term, the market trend is likely to dictated by slew of events like Reserve Bank of India (RBI’s) monetary policy review on 29 July 2008 and expiry of futures & options contracts on Thursday, 31 July 2008. Besides, the progress of the monsoon and corporates quarterly numbers will also be keenly watched.

Volatility may remain high ahead of the expiry of futures & options contracts for July 2008 series on Thursday, 31 July 2008. As per reports, marketwide rollover of positions from July 2008 series to August 2008 series stood at 19%, while that of Nifty was 24%, as of Friday 25 July 2008.

Asian markets were trading mixed today, 28 July 2008. China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.95% or 55.93 points at 2,921.03, Japan's Nikkei added 0.53% or 71.07 points at 13,405.83, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.04% or 9.73 points at 22,750.44. However, Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.33% or 9.73 points at 2,913.18 and South Korea's Seoul Composite slipped 0.32% or 5.15 points at 1,592.78

US markets advanced on Friday, 25 July 2008 on better than expected economic of durables, new home sales and consumer sentiment eased concerns of economic slowdown. The Dow Jones rose 21 points at 11,370 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 30 points to 2,310. The S&P 500 index climbed 5.22 points at 1257.76

Back home, markets cracked on Friday, 25 July 2008 on weak global cues and profit booking by investors after a recent sharp surge in a short span. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 502.07 points or 3.40% at 14,274.94 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty slipped 121.7 points or 2.74% at 4311.85, on that day.

The key benchmark indices extended gains for the third straight week in the week ended Friday, 25 July 2008, buoyed the Congress-led coalition government winning confidence vote in parliament, sharp correction in crude oil and short covering of derivatives positions. The barometer index BSE Sensex gained 639.54 points or 4.69% to 14,274.94 in the week ended Friday, 25 July 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty edged up 219.60 points or 5.36% to 4,311.85 in the week.

As per provisional data, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 565.73 crore and domestic institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 302.41 crore on Friday, 25 July 2008