Fine to begin with

Everything's fine today, that is our illusion. - Voltaire.

We expect a firm opening and perhaps a much better day for the bulls. Any rumor of the Prime Minister resigning remains just the imagination of a few. The fact that FIIs and local funds were net buyers on Friday could prop up the sagging spirits.



But, with F&O expiry round the corner and external uncertainties abound, the market may remain sideways and rangebound. The 2G spectrum imbroglio could continue to weigh on the sentiment as will jitters about potential margin calls in case of a further fall.

US markets are closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday while they are only open for a half day on Friday. Watch out for the revised Q3 GDP data and the FOMC minutes, besides reports on housing and consumer spending.

Meanwhile, Ireland has sought less than $100bn to address its worsening fiscal woes. The euro has rallied but concerns about sovereign debt issues in the eurozone are unlikely to vanish in a jiffy. In fact, speculation is rife that Portugal could be the next in line to tap into the EU-IMF fund.

World markets will witness a relief rally but the gains may not sustain. Chinese and Hong Kong markets are in the red after the China’s central bank hiked the reserve ratio on Friday.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs 3.67bn in the cash segment on Friday (provisionally), according to the NSE web site. Local funds were also net buyers of Rs 3bn. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers at Rs 7.33bn. The foreign funds were net sellers of Rs 2.18bn in the cash segment on Thursday, as per the SEBI web site.