Pre Session Commentary - Apr 13 2009

Today domestic markets are likely to have gap up opening as Asian markets are trading firm and the US markets on Friday closed in green. The buying by foreign funds on the last session of previous trade shows some encouraging sentiments. Moreover, the increase in stimulus spending by the government of Japan also likely to give a boost to the sentiments of the investors. On the stock specific front, Satyam Computers to remain in the limelight as the board of directors of the company is likely to announce the bidder. However, L&T seems to lead the race from he list of the bidders. The market which outperformed the global counterparts last week, looks to trade positive with volatility later during the session.

On Thursday, BSE Sensex recorded sixth consecutive gains. After a bang opening in less than an hour’s time the markets plunged in red, however the resurgence of buying sentiments lifted the markets to northward. The IIP data which recorded 1.2% contraction for the month of February as against 9.5% growth in the previous year thrashed the sentiments of investors. However the markets managed to close flat at the end. Sectors like Realty, Metal, Bankex, CD and CG witnessed huge buying as they gained 5.42%, 3.72%, 2.64%, 2.59% and 1.31% respectively. However on the other hand sectors like FMCG, Auto and PSU suffered selling pressures. Smallcap and Midcap stocks stole the charm of the day from the heavyweights. During the session we expect the markets to be trading positive with little bit of volatility.

The BSE Sensex closed with gain of 61.52 points at 10,803.86 and NSE Nifty ended flat at 3,342.05. BSE Mid Caps and BSE Small Caps ended with gains of 55.76 points and 61.58 points at 3,358.35 and 3,767.55 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,932.12 and intraday low of 10,655.96.

On Thursday, the US Markets ended in positive on the back of better than expected results of Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo expects to earn $0.55 per share for the quarter, which is far better than Analysts forecast of $0.24 per share. Wells Fargo also indicated its combined net charge-offs are down sequentially and that the legacy Wachovia business is operating well. This news helped the financial sector to gain 15.5% during the day’s trade. Wal-Mart posted positive March same-store sales, however it was a laggard in the day’s trend. On the other hand, the initial jobless claims for the week ending April 4 totaled 6,54,000 which was 20,000 low as compared to the previous week. Continuing claims climbed to a record high of 5.80 million. The US light crude oil for May delivery inclined by 5.2% to settle at $51.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed high by 246.27 points at 8,083.38 the NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index inclined by 61.88 points to close at 1,652.54 and the S&P 500 (SPX) inclined by 31.40 points to close at 856.56.

Today major stock markets in Asia are trading positive. Shanghai composite is up by 56.58 points at 2,500.80. Hang Seng is trading up by 426.55 points at 14,901.41 followed by Strait Times which is up by 47.80 points at 1,876.31. Taiwan Weighted is up with gains of 66.20 points at 5,848.16 and Seoul Composite points is also up by 5.64 points at 1,341.68 respectively. However, Japan’s Nikkei is down by 16.03 points at 8,948.08.

Indian ADRs ended higher. In technology sector, Infosys ended up by 2.80% however Wipro fell by 0.45%. Further, Patni Computers gained 3.12% while Satyam closed up by 8.16%. In banking sector ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained 10.27% and 6.73% respectively. In telecommunication sector Tata Communication and MTNL advanced by 2.87% and 3.89% respectively.

The FIIs on Thursday stood as net buyers in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 3,796.90 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 544.70 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 3,312.80 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 688.40 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs 484.10 Crore and Rs (143.70) Crore respectively.

On Thursday, the Rupee closed at Rs. 50.02/03, 0.38% stronger than its previous close of Rs. 50.19/20. The local currency closed stronger due to expectations of green back inflow as domestic stock markets are continuously rising.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 58.46 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 5,932.83 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded was 123.71 Crore and total turnover was Rs 17,365.44 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with 79449575 shares, Suzlon Energy with 45768596 shares, DLF with 20913995 shares, ICICI Bank with 18592959 shares followed by Hindalco with 15897043 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1082999 with a total turnover of Rs 17,393.95 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 551156 with a total turnover of Rs 19,697.19 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1428439 with a total turnover of Rs 24,068.08 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 47760 and notional turnover was Rs 1,810.88 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 3,292 and resistance at 3,407 and BSE Sensex has support at 10,613 and resistance at 11,093.