Pre Session Commentary - Dec 31 2008

Today the markets are likely to open positive. The markets sentiments look positive on the back of anticipations there might be some stimulus package coming from the government in the week. Besides that there are also expectations that the RBI may further soften its rates to help improve the lackluster sectors. The US markets have ended positive and the other Asian markets have also opened with green numbers. Sentiments are good and therefore we expect a firm trend today.

On Tuesday, the markets opened with positive gap but sooner dived into red. The volatility continued until the mid session, but on the expectations of another stimulus package from the government, the markets gained remarkably and maintained its strength throughout the day. Robust buying was witnessed in Realty, Auto, IT and Banking stocks. Further there are also expectations that the RBI may further cut rates to help the economy. Sensex and Nifty gained 1.92% and 2.27%. Realty, Auto, CG, Teck and IT gained 3.48%, 3.09%, 2.92% and 2.73% respectively. During the session we expect the markets to be trading in a positive trend accompanied mild volatility.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 182.64 points at 9,716.16 and NSE Nifty ended up by 57.30 points at 2,979.50. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with gains of 68.46 points and 63.97 points at 3,216.00 and 3,635.48 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 9,785.04 and intraday low of 9,494.70.

On Tuesday, the US markets closed in green. The US markets have showed firmness without any economic data to inspire the sentiments. There were reports about the weak housing data, and the consumer confidence fell to record lows. As per the U.S. Conference Board plummeting home prices and broader economic headwinds are taking their toll on consumer confidence. Crude oil futures for the month of February delivery fell $0.99 to $39.03 per barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit an intraday high of $40.39 a barrel in electronic trading. The crude futures managed to end below the $40 mark on the back of record-low U.S. consumer confidence as well as plunging housing prices overshadowed concerns about possible Middle East supply disruptions as a result of Israel''s air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed high with 184.46 points at 8,668.39 NASDAQ index gained 40.38 points at 1,550.70 and the S&P 500 (SPX) also closed higher by 21.22 points to close at 890.64 points.

Indian ADRs ended mixed. In technology sector, Infosys gained by 2.17% and Wipro fell by 2.62%, further Satyam ended with a gain of 4.04% and Patni Computers closed high by 1.84%. In banking sector ICICI Bank gained 0.89%, HDFC Bank grew by 1.52%. In telecommunication sector, Tata Communication fell by 1.13%, while MTNL inclined by 1.46%.

Today the major stock markets in Asia opened positive. The Shanghai Composite is trading high by 2.49 points at 1,835.40 Hang Seng is high by 233.48 points at 14,468.98. Further Japan''s Nikkei and Korea’s Seoul Composite are closed till Jan 5th 2009. Taiwan weighted is low by 1.53 points 4,587.51 and Singapore’s Strait Times is low by 1.61 points at 1,769.04.

The FIIs on Tuesday stood as net sellers in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 830.20 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 96.80 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 840.50 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs 184.70 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs (10.30) Crore and Rs (87.90) Crore respectively.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 35.35 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 3,984.49 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded were 64.80 Crore and total turnover was Rs 9,005.09 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with 75453510 shares, Suzlon Energy with total volume traded 43942089 shares, Satyam with 42542379 shares, followed by Reliance Petro 16737978 shares and SAIL with 13516643 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 843523 with a total turnover of Rs 11,519.36 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 862268 with a total turnover of Rs 9,050.66 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 836738 with a total turnover of Rs 12,705.63 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 60744 and notional turnover was Rs 713.22 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 2,932 and resistance at 3,055 and BSE Sensex has support at 9,543 and resistance at 9,916.