Sideways movement may continue

The market is likely to witness sideways movement on the back of a strong intra-day volatile move. Stocks across the sectors along with heavyweights may gyrate sharply. Overnight marginal gain in the US indices and weak Asian markets in morning’s trades may further dampen the investors' sentiment. On the technical side, the Nifty has a stiff resistance at 2600-2650 levels and the downside strong support at 2550-2500, while the Sensex could test higher levels of 8300 and has a likely support at 8000.

US indices ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones gaining 4 points to close at 6930 and the Nasdaq ended 13 points higher at 1372.

Most of the Indian ADR's fell on the US bourses. Rediff was the biggest loser and dropped over 4% followed Wipro declined 3.18%, while Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Patni Computer and Satyam were down around 1-2% each. However, VSNL soared 1.92% while MTNL and Dr Reddy's gained around 1% each.

Crude oil prices in the US market edged lower, with the Nymex light crude oil for April delivery down by $3.38 to close at $42.33 per barrel. In the commodity segment, the Comex gold for April series gained by $14.80 to settle at $910.70 an ounce.