Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Stocks May Chalk Up Modest Gains On Short Covering - June 4, 2008

MUMBAI: Indian stocks may advance Wednesday taking cues from Asian markets and with oil easing below $125 per barrel.

Asian equities rose today led by technology companies and automakers as the dollar rallied amid speculation the US Federal Reserve won't cut interest rates further.

This despite US stocks retreating for the second consecutive day Tuesday on growing speculation that Lehman Brothers will be forced to raise more capital. This led to a slump in financial shares. Similarly, a drop in oil prices pushed down energy companies.

However, the foreign investor data hints at guarded optimism in the near term. The issue over a fuel price hike also hangs fire.

Foreign funds were net sellers of Rs 1491 crore in futures Tuesday but net bought options worth Rs 633 crore.

Tuesday, after being beaten down initially, Indian benchmarks pared losses on buying in frontline oil & gas stocks, and supported by positive opening of European markets. Nifty took support at 4630 levels to bounce back to 4715.90, still down half a per cent.

Nifty June futures settled at a discount of 8 points to the spot, trimming Monday's discount of 20 points. Singapore Nifty futures also ended at discount of 9 points.

Nifty calls of strikes 4700 and 4800 added to the open interest while 4900 shed some positions. A tremendous build up of positions was seen in puts of strikes 4500 and 4400, indicating short term support at these levels.

“Two days of fall have pushed the markets in the lower side of the band. It seems the market is in an oversold zone and that's why we expect some short covering. Global cues are mixed. US markets fell while Asian opened positive. However, we expect a pull back rally from these levels as valuations seem attractive. Nifty will face resistance at 4800. The 4600 level should act as support for the Nifty," said Anand Panikar, a derivatives analyst with large brokerage.

Tuesday, total F&O turnover on NSE was Rs 40,448.71 crore, up 15 per cent from Monday. India VIX was at 28.49, down 3.39 per cent.

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