Pre Session Commentary - Dec 22 2008

Today the markets are expected to open up marginally in green and may turn into northward volatility. The fingers are crossed over the second stimulus package and also for the cut in the interest rates. The benchmark indices are also expected to discount the mixed cues from the Asian markets. However, the downbeat factor over the week was the volatility, which indicates that there is some fear still exits in the market. Sequentially, the reaction over the bailout package to the Auto makers on Friday was muted indicating for more economic policy.

On Friday, the market was volatile for the day and ended on a marginal gain. A series of positive news flow over the week has propelled the sentiments of the investors. The BSE sensex managed to end the week above five-digit mark. One good thing that the policymakers have been able to do is by asking the banks to start lending again and restore confidence. On the other end, the falling inflation number and expectation of second stimulus package has acted as confidence booster in the market. Sensex and Nifty gained 0.23% and 0.54%. Realty, Capital Goods, Healthcare and Auto conceded gains of 10.57%, 0.79%, 1.55% and 1.79% respectively.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 23.48 points at 10,099.91 and NSE Nifty ended high by 16.75 points at 3,077.50. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with gain of 59.43 points and 32.07 points at 3,263.99 and 3,744.02 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,188.54 and intraday low of 9,987.42.

On Friday, the US markets closed in mix. US President George W Bush bailed out US automakers on Friday with $17.4 billion in emergency loans. However, the santa touch is being felt on the Wall Street and optimism over efforts to fight the year long recession may prompt a year end rally. There are good bargains out there and there is a fair amount of buying in the marketplace. Crude oil futures for the month of January delivery that expired Friday fell $2.35 to $33.87 per barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange. The crude futures have touched an intraday of $32.40 per barrel in the electronic trading, the lowest level for a front-month contract since at least April 2004 after inventories rose to 19-month highs and the investor''s rush to invest in the next month''s contract. However, the oil for February delivery rose 69 cents to end at $42.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed low with 26 points at 8,579, whereas NASDAQ index managed to gain 12 points at 1,564 and the S&P 500 (SPX) also closed higher by 3 points to close at 889 points.

Indian ADRs ended mixed. In technology sector, Infosys gained by 0.31% and Wipro also gained by 2.70% whereas Satyam that dropped by 4.74% and Patni Computers closing low by 2.41%. In banking sector ICICI Bank surged by 1.30%, HDFC Bank fell by 1.69%. In telecommunication sector, Tata Communication plunged by 5.33%, while MTNL declined by 0.29%.

Today the major stock markets in Asia opened mixed. The Shanghai Composite is trading low by 36.28 at 1,982.17 Hang Seng is low by 150.30 points at 14,977.21. Further Japan''s Nikkei is higher by 118.58 points at 8,707.10. Tiwan weighted low by 46.62 points at 4,647.90 and Singapore’s Strait Times is up by 6.45 points at 1,801.92.

The FIIs on Friday stood as net sellers in equity and as net buyer in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 2,139.90 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 776.50 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 2,194.10 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs 163.90 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs (54.20) Crore and Rs 612.50 Crore respectively.

On Friday Indian Rupee closed at 47.26/27 a dollar, about 0.6% weaker than Thursday''s close of 46.95/96. The euro''s fall against the dollar raised expectations of a stronger U.S. currency, but hopes of capital inflows checked losses.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 42.01 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 5,066.77 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded were 87.86 Crore and total turnover was Rs 13,245.87 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with 106458838 shares, Suzlon Energy with total volume traded 52240172 shares, DLF with 21499700 shares, Satyam with 14896609 shares, followed by SAIL with 14746746 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1107385 with a total turnover of Rs 16075.49 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 1476299 with a total turnover of Rs 15972.99 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1162996 with a total turnover of Rs 17895.06 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 64649 and notional turnover was Rs 726.75 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 2,975 and resistance at 3,160 and BSE Sensex has support at 9,850 and resistance at 10,300.