Markets likely to get a green opening with the start of new series

The Indian markets closed lower after a choppy trade in last session, though the series ended on a strong note but traders opted to book profit before going further. Also there was pressure of 51 stocks being excluded from the F&O segment. Today, the start of the new series is likely to be mildly in green on positive global cues. However, the rollover stats show that marketmen are cautious and benchmark indices might take a pause after the rally over the last fortnight, the rollovers remained in-line, similar to the rollovers seen in the last expiry and a large number of Nifty September series futures were left to expire, that reflects that the traders are cautious. Meanwhile, the traders are likely to rejoice the government’s decision of no extra borrowing in the current year. The finance ministry asserted its commitment to containing fiscal deficit by sticking to its borrowing target and said that government will borrow Rs 2 lakh crore in the remaining period of the current fiscal to stick to the target of or 5.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. Traders will also be eyeing the movement of rupee that in last session rallied to its highest level in the last four and half months. There will be buzz in the UB group stocks, especially Kingfisher Airlines, as the National Stock Exchange and the BSE have sought clarifications on reports that the carrier is in talks with foreign entities and domestic investors for stake sale.

The US markets bounced back on Thursday on the back of good jobless claims data which came at two months low and Spain announcing its draft budget with a package of tax increases and spending cuts. However, the other domestic news were not that good and restricted the further growth, monthly report on orders for durable goods plunged in August.  The Asian markets have mostly made a positive start and barring the Japanese market all others are trading in green, supported by gains in commodities stock and weak economic data signaling governments may have to do more to support their economies.

Back come, Indian equity markets truly depicted the choppiness of F&O expiry session on Thursday and after a positive start could not hold up the gains and closed with a cut of about a quarter percent; however September series proved a strong one for the markets with benchmark indices gaining over 6% each for the series. There was across the board strength in the market during the series with broader indices gaining around 10% and the sectoral indices adding 6-23%. The positive cues from the regional markets led the domestic market to start in green, though choppiness was expected owing to F&O series expiry but in early trade markets started strengthening and by noon touched their highs of the day, there was lots of support from the auto, capital goods, realty and defensive FMCG sector, however the strengthening rupee pressurized the IT and technology stocks. Meanwhile, the finance minister P. Chidambaram said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants measures to avoid volatility in the rupee. Indian currency appreciated further during the day to touch 53.20 mark against the dollar, though it has been one of the worst performing currencies this year in Asian region. Markets started witnessing profit booking from the noon trade tracking the European markets, though the indices remained range bound afterwards but selling intensified in the final hours after the Supreme Court, delivering its opinion on the Presidential Reference moved by the Centre said that auction order must be restricted for the telecom spectrum only and opined that auction cannot be the only method for allocating natural resources. The F&O September series expired with strong gains, supported by lots of policy reforms on the domestic front and announcement of stimulus measures by different countries on global front. Realty and banking stocks were sectors that garnered maximum gains of over 20%, late spurt came in power sector too that gained over 7% for the series. Sectorally, the day was of FMCG which vaulted by over 1.5%, closely followed by Consumer Durables and Capital Goods who gathered gains of about a percent. However, Oil & Gas sector languished in red with cut of over 1.5% and IT and Technology sectors that were down by about a percent. The UB group stocks remained in limelight, gaining 7-10% for the day as United Spirits resumed talks with British drinks giant Diageo for a possible stake sale and ahead of a presentation of group chief Vijay Mallya to the SBI led consortium of banks on the Kingfisher Airlines’ fund raising plans. Finally, the BSE Sensex lost 52.67 points or 0.28% to settle at 18,579.50, while the S&P CNX Nifty declined by 13.95 points or 0.25% to close at 5,649.50.