Pre Session Commentary - July 24 2009

Today domestic markets are likely to open positive as US markets have recorded the week’s best rally on the back of phenomenal earnings report from majority of 150 companies that declared their results yesterday. The Asian markets have also cheered the surge in US markets to trade in the northward. In the Domestic arena one could witness a positive gap opening with firm trading. Nonetheless, the opening of European markets will further decide the firmness in domestic arena as well.

On Thursday, Indian markets closed with phenomenal gains. The bullish sentiment during the opening bell was further pumped by better core sector data. The six core industrial sectors led by coal and cement recorded a growth rate of 6.5 per cent in June compared to 2.8 per cent in the previous month, which shows signs of economic development and easing of downturn. Traders also gathered a lot of support from the Asian and European markets that kept marching towards the northward. From the sectoral front Realty, CD, Metal and FMCG led the markets with gains of 5.08%, 4.47%, 4.32% and 3.95% respectively. BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap index also gained by 2.29% and 2.16% respectively. Domestic markets are likely to trade positive today.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 387.92 points at 15,231.04 and NSE Nifty ended higher by 124.85 points at 4,523.75 BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed up by 118.63 points and 125.49 points at 5,293.37 and 5,942.85 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 15,264.84 and intraday low of 14,997.75.

On Thursday, the US stocks markets closed with phenomenal gains. 150 companies declared their results between the last evening and day’s morning. Majority of the companies reported better than expected results which send a strong buying sentiment across broader level. Industry heavyweights 3M (MMM 69.43, +4.76), Qualcomm (QCOM 47.40, -1.05), AT&T (T 25.48, +0.64), Ford (F 6.98, +0.60), SanDisk (SNDK 16.92, -2.07), eBay (EBAY 21.52, +2.07), and Diamond Offshore (DO 92.28, +4.38) all reported better than the Wall Street''s earnings estimates. Nevertheless, the Dow closed at its best level since January and the S&P 500 finished at its highest point since November. Nasdaq was at its current level in October. On the macro economic scenario, initial jobless claims for the week ending July 18 recorded at 554,000 in-line with expectations. The existing home sales for the month of June was up for the third straight month recording at an annual rate of 4.89 million units. US light crude oil futures for August delivery closed at $67.16 per barrel up by 2.7% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed higher by 188.03 points at 9,069.29, NASDAQ index gained 47.22 points to 1,973.60 and the S&P 500 (SPX) closed up by 22.22 points at 976.29.

Today major stock markets in Asia are trading positive. Hang Seng is up by 67.52 points at 19,885.22. Shanghai Composite is up by 46.668 points at 3,375.158. Japan''s Nikkei is trading up by 138.04 points at 9,930.98. Strait Times is up by 34.62 points at 2,519.52. Seoul Composite is up by 6.71 points at 1,503.20 and KLSE Composite is up by 3.45 points at 1,152.15.

Indian ADRs rallied on Thursday. In the IT space, Satyam Computers was up 11.61%, Infosys was up 4.27%, Wipro was up 2.88% and Patni Computers was up 0.17%. In the banking space, ICICI Bank was up 4.68% and HDFC Bank was up 1.16%. In the telecom space, MTNL was up 4.6% and Tata Communication was up 2.91%. In other sectors, Sterlite Industries was up 6.93%, Dr Reddy''s Labs was up 3.89% and Tata Motors was up 3.49%.

The FIIs on Thursday stood as net buyers in equity. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 2,936.40 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 2,790.90 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 1.50 Crore. The net investment of equity reported was Rs 145.50 Crore and net debt was Rs 59.90 Crore.

On Thursday, the partially convertible rupee ended at Rs 48.46/47, 0.12% weaker than its previous close at 48.52/53. The rupee gained strength as domestic stock markets marked huge gains on strong macro economic cues from domestic Infrastructure sector.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 46.27 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 8,078.12 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded were 95.52 Crore and total turnover was Rs 19,068.17 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Suzlon Energy with total volume traded 47158444 shares, followed by Unitech with 47091751, DLF with 14391137, Tata Steel with 12062493 and Reliance Comm with 11578445 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 831699 with a total turnover of Rs 18,072.28 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 675858 with a total turnover of Rs 19,934.77 crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1565334 with a total turnover of Rs 35,153.64 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 56254 and notional turnover was Rs 1,724.87 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 4,564 and resistance at 4,642 and BSE Sensex has support at 15,343 and resistance at 15,512.