Firm trend may continue

Upturn in the market is likely to continue further following the overnight gains in the US markets and firm Asian indices in morning trades. The presence of strong bullish sentiment after yesterday's smart gains of 206 points may also help the market to open in the green. Among the local indices, the Nifty could test 4180 and 4220 on the upside and may slip to 4040 on the downside. The Sensex has a likely support at 13700 and may face resistance at 14300. On the earnings front Ashok Layland, EID Parry, Great Eastern Shipping, Gujrat Alkalies, GSFC, Hindalco are expected to announce their quarterly numbers.

Indian floats ended largely with gains on the US bourses. ICICI Bank was the leading gainer and rose 1.43% while Infosys, Satyam, MTNL, HDFC Bank and VSNL gained around 1% each. However, Patni Computers, Dr Reddy's, Tata Motors and Rediff were down around 1% each.

While the Nymex light crude oil for June delivery moved up by 49 cents at $63.19 a barrel. In the commodity space, the Comex gold for June series jumped by $9.30 to settle at $684.40 a troy ounce.