Daily Call - Jan 27 2010

US markets yesterday reversed their intraday gains as investors turned cautious before the Federal Reserve's policy announcement and President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday night. Earlier, after a lower open, stocks rose on better than expected consumer confidence data and strong earnings from Apple. The consumer confidence index rose to 55.9 in January, its highest level since September 2008.

Our markets are likely to open lower as they factor in sharp cuts in Asian markets ranging from 2% to 3.5% in yesterday’s trade on the back of implementation of a clampdown on lending by China and cut in rating outlook on Japan by Standard & Poor's. Added to that we will have pressure from derivatives side where rollover so far is substantially lower at 36% versus 49% on comparable day last month. While FIIs bought index futures worth Rs. 235 cr on Monday, provisional selling of 1003 cr in cash segment is discomforting. Among the results to watch out for will be DLF, SAIL, PNB, BoB and NALCO.