Pre Session Commentary - Apr 27 2009

Today domestic markets are likely to open positive as the US markets closed in green with phenomenal gains. However the other Asian markets are reluctant to follow the trend. There is mixed opening of the Asian markets and therefore the domestic sentiments are likely to dwindle after the opening bell. One could witness some choppy trade in the early trading session as there is lack of cues from Asian markets and investors would be also concerned about the corporate earnings. Banking stocks could be under pressure as ICICI bank has declared its worse than expected FY09 results.

On Friday, domestic markets closed with phenomenal gains after a shy opening trade. The sentiments started building strong along with the advent of positive movements of European markets. Huge buying interest spurred across broader level as European markets exuded northward trend. Ignoring the poor performance of other Asian markets, domestic markets recorded its 7th consecutive week gain. Having broken the 11k mark the Sensex looks firm at 11300 level and Nifty seems to be heading towards 3500 level. The F&O expiry also compelled investors to cover their short coverings. The market breadth was positively firm on BSE as the advance to decline ratio strengthened at 1.58:1. The markets may trade volatile today.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 194.06 points at 11,329.05 and NSE Nifty ended up by 57.05 points at 3,480.75. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 65.91 and 68.48 points at 3,600.09 and 4,068.26 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 11,362.88 and intraday low of 11,070.33.

On Friday, the US stock markets closed positive. The investors showed less risk aversion and therefore moved into early cyclical plays amid hopes of slowness in the economic downturn. The new home sales for March came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 356,000, which was better than expected, but down 0.6% from an upwardly revised February reading. March durable goods orders and orders excluding transportation declined 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. Neither was as bad as expected. Corporate results would be in focus as 20 companies may announce their quarterly results today before the opening bell. US light crude oil futures for June gained by 3.9% at $51.54 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) inclined by 119.23 points to close at 8,076. The NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index gained by 42.08 points to close at 1,694.29 and the S&P 500 (SPX) inclined by 14.31 points to close at 866.23.
Today major stock markets in Asia are trading mixed.

Shanghai composite is low by 29.45 at 2,419.15. Hang Seng is trading low by 401.24 points at 14,857.61 followed by Japan''s Nikkei which is high by 4.24 points at 8,712.23, Strait Times is low by 62.38 points at 1,797.60. While Taiwan Weighted is down by 157.45 points at 5,723.32 and Seoul Composite points is low by 15.20 points at 1,338.90 respectively.

Indian ADRs ended mostly higher. In technology sector, Infosys ended higher by 0.98% along with Wipro by 1.33%. Further, Patni Computers gained 4.31% whereas Satyam closed down by 1.60%. In banking sector ICICI Bank gained 2.96% and HDFC Bank advanced by 2.38%. In telecommunication sector Tata Communication lost 4.64% and MTNL remained unchanged. Sterlite Industries increased by 4.99%.

The FIIs on Friday stood as net buyers in equity and net seller debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 1,406.10 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 87.80 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 1,094.40 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 107.10 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs 311.60 Crore and Rs (19.30) Crore respectively.

On Friday, the Rupee closed at Rs.49.81/82, 0.22% stronger than its previous close of Rs. 49.92/93. The rupee gained strength on the back of late gain in local stock market.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 47.26 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 5,278.66 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded was 96.32 Crore and total turnover was Rs 14,931.51 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with total volume traded 60816727 shares, followed by Suzlon Energy with 42178200 shares, DLF with 18998850 shares, Tata Steel 15293220 shares and Idea Cellular with 15048069 shares respectively.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1002231 with a total turnover of Rs 16,683.83 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 592796 with a total turnover of Rs 22,975.89 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1551604 with a total turnover of Rs 26,749.25 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 47245 and notional turnover was Rs 1,965.49 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 3,389 and resistance at 3,512 and BSE Sensex has support at 10,205 and resistance at 11,465.