Pre Session Commentary - Apr 17 2009

Today domestic markets are likely to open positive as majority of Asian markets have opened with phenomenal gains and also the US markets closed in green yesterday. After substantial losses yesterday we can expect some bounce back on frontline stocks today. However at a broader level buying sentiment is less likely to sustain.

On Thursday, domestic markets finally ended its upward trend to close with losses. Since the opening bell the markets exuded a sense of cautious trading. The sentiments were weak and the selling pressure was further ignited after the post mid session. Despite the phenomenal positive trade of the European markets the Asian markets witnessed a lackluster trade. There was lack of buying interest across the broader level and traders were cautious on their fresh positions. The inflation numbers were very discouraging as it is heading towards the zero level. The wholesale price index for the week ended April 4 recorded at 0.18% as against 0.26% in the previous week. In the Sectoral indices Realty, Metal, CG and Oil & Gas faced huge selling pressures as they fell by 9.16%, 6.97%, 4.95% and 4.50% respectively. However on the other safe heaven FMCG closed with a gain of 1.92%. Smallcap and Midcap stocks were brutally shattered as they had gained enough in previous trading sessions. During the session we expect the markets to be trading volatile.

The BSE Sensex closed with loss of 337.33 points at 10,947.40 and NSE Nifty ended with huge loss of 114.65 points at 3,369.50. BSE Mid Caps and BSE Small Caps ended with losses of 163.16 points and 194.46 points at 3,438.73 and 3,928.99 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 11,367.23 and intraday low of 10,900.47.

On Thursday, the US stock markets closed in green. After an early choppy trade the stocks at broader level started northward movement. The Financial stocks were in charm after the JP Morgan Chase announced its first quarter earnings at $0.40 per share which was far above the expected $0.32 per share. In the macro economic scenario the latest jobless claims data suggest that the pace of layoffs is slowing, but that it isn''t getting any easier to find work. Initial claims for the week ending April 11 totaled 610,000, which is down more than expected from the prior week, but continuing claims climbed more than expected to a new record of 6.02 million. On the other hand housing sector starts disappointed investors hoping to find signs of a recovery in home building. Housing starts for March totaled 510,000, which was below the 540,000 starts that were expected and down from the prior month. Meanwhile, building permits in March totaled 513,000, which is below the 549,000 permits that were expected, and down from February. US light crude oil futures for May surged 1.4% at $49.95 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) inclined by 95.81 points to close at 8,125.43. The NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index surged 43.64 points to close at 1,670.44 and the S&P 500 (SPX) inclined by 13.24 points to close at 865.30.
Today major stock markets in Asia are trading positive. Shanghai composite is low by 22.35 points at 2,511.79. Hang Seng is trading high by 318.13 points at 15,901.12 followed by Japan''s Nikkei which is high by 185.20 points at 8,940.46, Strait Times is up by 17.59 points at 1,909.43. While Taiwan Weighted is low by 40.96 points at 5,956.21 and Seoul Composite points is up by 8.25 points at 1,344.83 respectively.

Indian ADRs ended mixed. In technology sector, Infosys ended up by 2.57% along with Wipro by 3.23%. Further, Patni Computers gained 2.74% while Satyam closed lower by 2.04%. In banking sector ICICI Bank lost 1.72% whereas HDFC Bank advanced by 1.50%. In telecommunication sector Tata Communication and MTNL dropped by 2.77% and 3.62% respectively. Sterlite Industries decreased by 2.04%.

The FIIs on Thursday stood as net buyers in equity and net sellers in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 4,062.60 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 383.50 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 3,290.40 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 669.00 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs 772.20 Crore and Rs (285.50) Crore respectively.

On Thursday, the Rupee closed at Rs. 49.76, 10 paise weaker than its previous close of Rs. 49.66. The local currency closed weaker due to fall in domestic markets creating apprehensions of foreign capital inflow.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 70.70 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 7,149.45 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded was 148.41 Crore and total turnover was Rs 21,128.74 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with 157895258 shares, Suzlon Energy with 87077729 shares, DLF with 24617024 shares, SAIL with 23880649 shares followed by Rel Capital with 21513929 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1251577 with a total turnover of Rs 20,716.69 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 671570 with a total turnover of Rs 25,181.24 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1770593 with a total turnover of Rs 30,483.07 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 52353 and notional turnover was Rs 2,127.90 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 3,283 and resistance at 3,441 and BSE Sensex has support at 10,810 and resistance at 11,198.