Uptrend may resume on strong FII inflow

Firm global markets, and strong FII inflow may trigger recovery on the bourses after Tuesday’s slide. After trading hours on Tuesday (17 April), HCL Tech reported strong Q3 March 2007 results. There is no big ticket Q4 result today.

Stock specific activity is likely to rule the roost on the bourses in the near term as the earnings reporting season has just begun.

FII inflow has picked after Infosys gave strong guidance for FY 2008 in dollar terms putting to rest concerns of the impact of a slowdown in the US on India's IT sector. FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 788.30 crore on Monday 16 April, the day when Sensex had surged 312 points in global rally. FII inflow by the first few days of April 2007 reached Rs 3155.80 crore (till 16 April).

As per provisional data, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 305 crore on Tuesday 17 April, the day when Sensex had lost 89 points due to fall in IT stocks caused by rupee’s surge. The provisional data also showed that domestic institutional investors were net sellers to the tune of Rs 310 crore on that day.

Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly in the green on Wednesday (18 February) following favourable US economic data. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan were up by between 0.34% to 1%.

Wall Street traded mostly higher Tuesday, briefly pushing the Dow Jones industrials into record territory after a rise in home construction and a mild reading on consumer inflation encouraged investors to buy. The Dow traded as high as 12,790.02, passing its closing high of 12,786.64 set Feb. 20, and approached its trading high of 12,795.93, reached the same day. It settled 52.58, or 0.41 percent up at 12,773.04. Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.01, or 0.20 percent, to 1,471.48, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.38, or 0.05 percent, to 2,516.95.

US March housing starts rose 0.8 percent -- a feeble rise compared with February's 7.6 percent advance, but much better than the drop investors expected. Building permits also rose. US stocks have had many tumultuous weeks this year due to worries about the financial troubles of the subprime lending sector spilling into the already sluggish housing market.

The Labor Department's core consumer price index rose 0.1 percent in March, less than expected, and alleviating some anxiety about the Federal Reserve's need to raise interest rates to curb costs. The overall consumer price index, which takes into account energy and food, rose 0.6 percent in March -- the largest increase in 11 months -- and was in line with expectations.

Stocks across the globe have surged over the past few weeks amid growing confidence that the benign backdrop of solid global economic growth and moderate inflation will continue.