Pre Session Commentary - May 4 2009

Today domestic markets are likely to open with positive gap as majority of Asian markets have also opened with phenomenal gains on the back of positive cues from US markets. The domestic markets may once again trade in the northward direction as the scenario across other markets seems to be conducive. The month beginning is likely to bring some charm for the traders. There might be a possibility that the domestic markets may try to cope up with the two day closing in the previous week, when most of markets recorded remarkable gains.

On Wednesday, domestic markets bounced back with staggering gains. The traders closed there short coverings during the expiry of April F&O series. Huge buying prevailed in the broader level which was further bolstered by positive sentiments swung the Asian and European markets towards northward direction. The traders are bullish as May series is at premium and on rollover of long positions. Phenomenal buying was witnessed in sectors like IT, Bankex, Teck and Oil & Gas stocks as they spurred by 4.95%, 4.47%, 3.99% and 3.48% respectively. The abrupt positive gap opening was further pumped with a firm positive sentiment that resulted in more than recovery from yesterday’s losses. We expect the markets to be trading range bound.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 401.50 points at 11,403.25 and NSE Nifty ended up by 111.60 points at 3,473.95. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 63.15 points and 52.58 points at 3,513.86 and 3,940.90 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 11,430.25 and intraday low of 11,091.56.

On Friday, the US stock markets closed in green. Despite some weak economic data the markets managed to close in green. The session was quite choppy however towards the end some late buying supported the markets. The energy stocks were the charm of the day with a remarkable gain of 3%. The energy sector''s rebound was helped along by higher energy prices; natural gas prices spiked 5.1% to close at $3.55 per contract, while crude oil futures finished pit trading with oil priced 3.4% higher at $52.84 per barrel. US light crude oil futures for June inclined by 3.4% at $52.84 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) inclined by 44.29 points to close at 8,212.41 The NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index gained by 1.90 points to close at 1,719.20 and the S&P 500 (SPX) inclined by 4.71 points to close at 877.52.
Today major stock markets in Asia are trading positive. Shanghai composite is up by 56.15 at 2,534.08. Hang Seng is trading up by 576.64 points at 16,097.63 followed by, Strait Times which is up by 60.07 points at 1,980.35. While Taiwan Weighted is also up by 362.98 points at 6,355.55 and Seoul Composite points is also up by 19.08 points at 1,388.44 respectively. Japan’s Nikkei is up with phenomenal gains of 149.11 points at 8,977.37.

Indian ADRs ended mixed. In technology sector, Infosys ended down by 0.36% along with Satyam by 1.67%. Further, Wipro gained 0.96% whereas Patni Computers closed down by 1.02%. In banking sector ICICI Bank lost 0.39 % while HDFC Bank advanced by 1.24%. In telecommunication sector Tata Communication gained 0.04% whereas MTNL declined by 0.34%. Sterlite Industries increased by 0.35%.

The FIIs on Wednesday stood as net sellers in equity and net buyers in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 1,544.10 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 1,080.80 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 1,718.00 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 201.80 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs (173.90) Crore and Rs 879.00 Crore respectively.

On Wednesday, the Rupee closed at Rs.50.04/05, 0.5% stronger than its previous close of Rs. 50.52/53. The rupee gained strength on the back of phenomenal rise in the local stock markets.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 41.98 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 4,168.12 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded was 107.40 Crore and total turnover was Rs 15,524.28 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with total volume traded 225846398 shares, followed by Suzlon Energy with 38933772 shares, ICICI Bank with 18656793 shares, Tata Steel 16859539 shares and SAIL with 13031157shares respectively.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1268457 with a total turnover of Rs 21,241.92 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 722945 with a total turnover of Rs 26,841.51 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1743673 with a total turnover of Rs 29,847.12 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 53207 and notional turnover was Rs 2,132.85 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 3,512 and resistance at 3,578 and BSE Sensex has support at 11,545 and resistance at 11,695.