May it end!

"Nothing is wasted, nothing is in vain, The seas roll over but the rocks remain." - AP Herbert.

The May derivative settlement hasn’t been great and short rollovers seem to be increasing. The Sensex and the Nifty are also down over 10% year-to-date as rising inflation and hardening rates have sparked FII outflows. In times like these, even rock-solid stocks get worn away.



This week’s topsy-turvy ride is set to continue with expectation of a mildly higher opening. The sideways consolidation is likely to persist in the near-term as the annual earnings season winds down. There is a slight chance of a further breakdown in sentiment but expect value buying to support the indices at lower levels.

Crude oil is back above $100 per barrel. It rose to a two-week high in New York. The dollar index is hovering around 76. The euro has advanced amid talk that China will buy European bonds. However, concerns prevail over the fiscal health of peripheral eurozone nations.

Asian stocks are up following overnight gains in the US and European markets.

Weekly inflation data will be on investors’ radar apart from the earnings from Tata Motors and Tech Mahindra. Tata Steel, DLF, Cairn India and Coal India will be in focus post their results.

The Nifty has violated a key trough of 5400. We remain cautious in the near term as long as the Nifty trades below 5475, which corresponds to a bearish resistance line.

Reliance Industries could be in the spotlight amid reports that the Centre may permit it to charge market rates from non-priority gas customers.

Wipro's infrastructure engineering division is getting into aerospace and defence components manufacturing by entering into an alliance with EADS' Spanish arm Compania Espanola De Sistemas Aeronauticos (CESA).

Sangita Jindal, one of the promoters of JSW Energy, on Wednesday sold 2.36 crore shares of the company for Rs 1.63bn. Jindal sold the shares at a price of Rs 69 a piece through open market transaction, according to reports.

The Income-Tax Department has reportedly slapped an additional demand of Rs 5.47bn on DLF.

Land acquisition problems and delayed forest clearances have reportedly held up 120 proposed transmission projects of PowerGrid and several state utilities. Rising coal prices may derail GVK’s Hancock bid, according to reports.

The RBI has reportedly advised state-run infrastructure finance companies to make provisions for standard assets from March 2012 due to fears of defaults amid uncertainty over pending infrastructure and power projects.

FIIs were net sellers of Rs 3.7bn in the cash segment on Wednesday, according to the provisional NSE data. The domestic institutional institutions (DIIs) were net buyers at Rs 1.7bn on the same day.

In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 5.8bn. The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 351mn in the cash segment on Tuesday, as per SEBI web site. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs 652mn on the same day.

Results Today: Aban Offshore, Ansal Properties, BGR Energy, Canara Bank, Core Projects, Dishman Pharma, Engineers India, Fame India, FDC, GSPL, HPCL, Inox, Jai Corp., JBF Industries, Kewal Kiran Clothing, Max India, Mphasis, Muthoot Finance, Ramky Infra, Sun TV, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Tilaknagar Industries, VA Tech Wabag, Varun Shipping, Videocon Industries, Welcorp and ZF Steering.