INDECISIVE

The markets opened on a firm note, and continued to trade in the same range, till the second half of the trading session, but after the European markets opened, the markets slowly pared all their gains and both Nifty and Sensex closed for the day, up by 10 and 34 points respectively. On the sectoral front, there were hardly any gains and much of the gains were contributed by individual stocks. The star performers for the day, were ACC, Tata power, Cairn and HCL Tech. The market breadth was somehow positive, with 858 advances to 636 declines. On the institutional side, both FIIs and DIIs were net buyers to the tune of merely 222 and 38 crores respectively in the cash market. On the derivatives side FIIs brought Index Futures worth 589 crores and sold Stock futures worth 297 crores. Nifty futures closed at 5322, with 22 points premium to the spot, along with a considerable increase in open interest. On the options side PCR increased to 1.06, with a moderate fall in the India VIX (-1.37%). On the Call option side there was considerable shedding of open interest from 5100 to 5300 calls, with a corresponding increase in open interest from 5400 to 5600 calls, while on the Put options side, with a exception of 5100 and 5600 puts, there was considerable addition of open interest from 5000 to 5500 puts. The entire activity in the F&O space indicates, more unwinding of shorts along with long positions created at the upper end of the market. In fact the options data for the last seven consecutive sessions indicate Nifty may be able to cross the 5400 barrier. On the technical side the positive momentum has created some reversal signs, but it remains to be seen how long will this up-move be sustained in the absence of full fledged institutional participation. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 5330, 5365 & 5377 on the upside, and 5275, 5258 & 5222 on the downside. On the international market side the European markets have closed in the red, and the U.S. markets are also trading in the red , on the back of poor corporate data. On the commodities front both Brent and WTI Crude are trading down by 1- 1.5% on the back of rise in U.S. crude oil inventories.

STOCK PICKS

AXIS BANK - SELL 1220-1240, SL 1255. TGT - 1170, 1160