Pre Market Watch

Equities are likely to open higher Monday on the back of positive global cues. But it needs to be seen whether indices can hold on to the gains as volatility is foreseen.

Speculations of mid-term polls gained strength after Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that she was not at all concerned about its prospect. At an iftar get-together at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence, she said, “If there are polls, we will face it.”

“Political tensions pose a threat to the market, though fundamentally there is nothing to worry about. Infosys’ report card (due on Oct, 11) will be the next trigger for the market, till then indices will be range bound,” said Amit Dalal, managing director of Amit Nalin Securities.

“The immediate support for Nifty Futures is at 5157 and below that it may test the 5100 levels. As long as it sustains above 4980 on declines, the uptrend remains strong and intact. The market is likely to open in the positive on strong global cues. It may continue to display high volatility so caution is advised,” said Religare Securities.

US markets closed higher with the Dow and S&P 500 surging to all-time intraday highs on Friday after a solid employment report rekindled optimism about the US economy and corporate profits. Asian markets also opened in the positive Monday.

Friday, the Sensex closed flat with a negative bias at 17,773.36, while the Nifty ended 0.44 per cent or 23 points lower at 5185.85. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended 0.44 per cent or 223 points lower at 5185.85. It touched an intra-day high of 5248.55 and low of 5164.50.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of equity worth Rs 948.06 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors net sold Rs 201.61 crore, according to provisional data on NSE.