Caution should be exercised

After posting significant gains of over 600 points in the last session, buying interest may continue on the back of a firm trend. However, caution should be exercised as the market may move in tandem with global indices which are currently prone to higher inflation and rising oil prices. Investors should also take into account the prevalance of strong intra-day volatility. All the key Asian indices have lost ground in the ongoing trades and are down around 0.50% each. Among the key local indices, the Nifty could test higher levels at 5600 while it has a support at 5400. The Sensex has a likely support at 18430 and may face resistance at 19000.

US indices tanked on Monday, with the Dow posting its biggest one-day loss in more than a month, after Citigroup's weak profit report and record-high oil prices sparked a big selloff., while the tech-laden Nasdaq declined sharply to close 26 points lower at 2780.

Indian floats had a mixed outing on the US bourses. Satyam, Dr Resddy's Lab, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained around 0.5-2% each while Infosys, Wipro, Tata Motors, MTNL, VSNL and Rediff dropped over 1-2% each.

Crude oil jumped nearly 3% to a record over $86 a barrel on Monday as fresh tensions in the Middle East added to worries of a supply crunch when cold weather stokes up heating demand this winter, with the Nymex light crude oil for November delivery rising by $2.44 to close at $86.13 per barrel. In the Commodity space, the Comex gold for December delivery gained $8.40 to settle at $762.20 an troy ounce.