One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.
Patience always pays whether its markets or life. Those who were patient enough to endure last year’s crash have reaped a rich harvest in the past month and a half. There are many who have missed the relief rally and are keen to cash in on the upswing. But, they should be careful as the advance may not sustain for too long. So, lock in some gains and wait for better opportunities when there is a fresh correction.
Today itself, there could be some easing as Asian stock benchmarks (barring Nikkei) are in the red. US stocks gained on Friday, spurred by better-than-expected results by Ford and encouraging data on new home sales. European shares too posted strong gains. The SGX Nifty in Singapore was last seen down a little less than 1%.
However, a short squeeze is not ruled out ahead of Wednesday’s F&O expiry, which could take the key indices further up. The overall mood is likely to remain upbeat. Markets are shut on Thursday and Friday. Election fever remains high with three more rounds still to go.
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FIIs were net buyers in the cash segment on Friday at Rs5.77bn (provisional) while the local institutions were net buyers of just Rs153.1mn. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net sellers at Rs494.5mn. On Thursday, FIIs poured in Rs3.11bn in the cash segment. Mutual Funds pumped in Rs4.6bn on the same day.
Week Ahead in the US: Roughly a third of the S&P 500 companies reports results this week. Major economic reports are due on first-quarter GDP growth and consumer spending. The Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Chrysler's fate hangs in the balance, as reports say that the UAW has reached an agreement with the struggling auto major on modifications in collective bargaining accord needed to keep the company out of bankruptcy. Investors will also brace for the release of the "stress tests" of the major US banks, due out in the following week.
Meanwhile, US health officials on Sunday declared a public health emergency over increasing cases of swine flu, saying that they had confirmed 20 cases of the disease and expected to see more as investigators fan out to track down the path of the outbreak. Although officials said that most of the cases had been mild and urged Americans not to panic, the emergency declaration frees resources to be used toward diagnosing or preventing additional cases and releases money for more antiviral drugs.
US stocks rallied on Friday after Ford, Microsoft and American Express reported results that met or topped analysts' expectations. The Nasdaq ended higher for its 7th week in a row, while the Dow and S&P 500 ended the week slightly lower after six straight weeks of gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 119 points, or 1.5% during the day to close at 8,076.29. The S&P 500 index gained 14 points, or 1.7%, to shut shop at 866.23. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 42 points, or 2.6%, to 1,694.29.
Stocks rallied on the last day of a turbulent week on Wall Street where investors showed some caution. Bets that the worst is over for the world's largest economy and companies lifted stocks. The S&P 500 climbed by more than 29% over the past six weeks prior to April 20, following a rout that left the index at 12-year lows.
US indices briefly trimmed gains after regulators released what was billed as a detailed report on how the government is running its "stress tests" of the leading banks. However, the report offered little new information. Results from the tests won't be announced until May 4.
Ford Motor, considered to be the healthiest of the three Detroit automakers, said that it lost $1.4 billion in the first quarter as it contended with the worst quarter for the industry in 26 years. Excluding special items, Ford lost $1.8 billion, or 75 cents per share, versus a profit of 20 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a loss of $1.23 per share. Ford's revenue also plunged versus a year ago but topped estimates.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally said he believes the company can continue to function without receiving a federal bailout like rivals Chrysler and General Motors (GM). Ford shares jumped 11.4%.
Time is running out for Chrysler, which could enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as next week, according to reports, if it can't close deals with creditors and Italian automaker Fiat. Chrysler is privately owned.
Meanwhile, GM said late on Thursday that it will temporarily shut down 13 of 20 North American plants this summer to cut inventory. The company has until June 1 to cut its debt and labor costs or face Chapter 11 as well. Shares gained 4.3%.
After the close on Thursday, Microsoft reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales on weaker earnings that met estimates. Shares of the Dow component gained 10.5%.
Dow component American Express reported weaker quarterly earnings that topped estimates, also after the close on Thursday. Shares gained 20.7%.
3M reported weaker quarterly sales and earnings and cut its full-year earnings forecast for the second time. The company, which makes everything from Scotch tape to power lines, is seen as a proxy for the economy because of the broad range of its business. Shares gained 5%.
Amazon.com reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates late on Thursday. Shares gained 4.8%.
Honeywell reported weaker quarterly sales that topped estimates on weaker earnings that met estimates. The company also cut its 2009 profit outlook, due to the global economic slowdown. Shares fell 2.9%.
Schlumberger reported weaker earnings that topped forecasts on weaker sales that missed estimates. The leading oilfield services company in the world also gave a dour forecast for the industry for the rest of this year and for 2010. Shares gained 7%.
March new home sales fell from the previous month, after that month's sales figures were revised higher, the Census Bureau reported. Sales fell to a 356,000 annual unit rate from an upwardly revised 358,000 unit annual rate in February. Economists expected sales at a 337,000 unit annual rate.
March durable goods orders fell 0.8% versus forecasts for a drop of 1.5%. Orders of goods meant to last three years or more rose 3.4% in February.
Treasury prices slumped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.99% from 2.91% on Thursday.
Lending rates were mixed. The 3-month Libor rate fell to 1.07% from 1.09% on Thursday. The overnight Libor rate held stead at 0.2%. Libor is a bank-to-bank lending rate.
In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.
US light crude oil for June delivery rose $1.94 to $51.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for June delivery rose $7.50 to settle at $914.10 an ounce.
European shares advanced strongly on Friday with banks and oil producers leading the advance. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 2.3% to 195.82, helping it close roughly flat for the week. Still, a weak session for several Nordic firms in particular kept gains for the Stoxx 600 in check.
Among national indexes, the UK's FTSE 100 index jumped 3.4% to 4,155.99, while Germany's DAX 30 index advanced 3% to 4,674.32 and the French CAC-40 index was up 3.1% at 3,102.85.
Indian markets ended the week on a high with the NSE Nifty index managing to sustain above the 200 DMA for the second straight trading session. The rally was led by the banking and the capital goods stocks followed by select telecom and auto stocks.
Even the mid-cap and the small-cap stocks attracted buying interest as both the indices added over 1.5% each.
The BSE Sensex surged 194 points to close at 11,328 and the NSE Nifty ended higher by 57 points at 3,480.
Among the 30-components of Sensex, 24 ended in positive terrain and 6 ended in the red. Among the major gainers were, M&M, JP Associates, Grasim, Bharti Airtel, ACC and Reliance Infra.
Among the major losers were, Ranbaxy, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel, NTPC, ITC and Infosys.
Among the BSE Sectoral indices BSE Bankex index was the top gainer, the index gained 2.5%. Among the other major gainers were BSE Consumer Durable index (up 2%), BSE Capital Goods index (up 2%), BSE Teck index (up 1.8%) and BSE Auto index (up 1.7%)
Market breath was positive, 1,526 advanced against 966 declines, while, 101 remained unchanged.
Shares of Pyramid Saimira ended at 5% lower circuit to Rs17.4 after market regulator ordered promoters of the company, Nirmal N. Kotecha, Rakesh Sharma, Rajesh Unnikrishnan and Pratheesh Kumar V.K. not to buy, sell or deal in the securities market including IPOs, in any manner, either directly or indirectly, till further directions.
These persons / entities prima facie have been found to have played a key role in the forgery, dissemination of the information contained in the forged SEBI letter to the media and misleading the media to believe the authenticity of the information that was circulated to them. Click here to read more…
The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs17.4 and a low of Rs17.4 and recorded volumes of over 50,000 shares on BSE.
The stock had hit 52-week high of Rs410 on May 14, 2008 and 52-week low of Rs13.15 on March 5, 2009. The stock has dropped almost 57% from year to date.