RESPITE

As expected, the markets opened on a mildly positive note, but gained  positive momentum as the trading session progressed and ultimately both the indices closed at the highest point of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 65 and 199 points respectively. The market breadth was very positive with 973 advances to 492 declines. On the sectoral front, Banking sector  was the biggest gainer, followed by the Midcap and FMCG sector. On the individual stock front, State Bank Of India, BHEL, Tata Power, PNB, Sesa Goa & Axis bank were the star performers of the day. On the institutional side, both FIIs and DIIs were net buyers to the tune of 109 & 168 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net buyers in both Index and Stock futures to the tune of 96 and 296 crores respectively. Nifty future closed  at 4975, with 11 points discount to the spot, along with a massive fall in open interest.  On the options side, the PCR fell to 1.08, along with a fall in the India VIX by 5.81%. On the Call options side, the 4900 call option, lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5000 & 4800 calls. On the Put options side, the 4700 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 4800 & 5200 puts, while the 4900 put added the maximum open interest followed by the 5000 put. The entire activity in the F&O space indicates, massive short covering on both futures and options side, which led to today's gains in the market. The focus has now shifted to the monthly expiry and the rollovers are already visible in both Index and stock futures and options. On the currency front, the Rupee appreciated a bit and the USD-INR future closed at 55.2.

On the technical side, the positive momentum can be sustained for some more time as most of the indicators indicate a upswing. Nifty has closed above the crucial level of 4950, and this level must be maintained, to sustain the trend. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be, 5010, 5034, 5074 on the upside and 4945, 4902 and 4888 on the downside.

On the international market front, the Asian and European markets have closed almost flat, while the U.S. stock-index futures advanced as Greece’s pro-bailout New Democracy party came top in opinion polls before next month’s election, boosting speculation the nation can implement austerity measures and keep the euro. On the energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude futures are trading in the positive zone at 107 & 91.14 $/bbl.

STOCK PICKS

AXIS BANK - BUY 1005- 1011. SL - 982. TGT - 1035, 1046, 1062.

LT -  BUY 1180- 1190. SL - 1160. TGT - 1225, 1241

ICICI BANK -  BUY 810 - 815. SL - 792. TGT - 844, 853