Bullish Sentiment MAY Continue...

Expectations of a market-friendly budget and healthy FII inflows so far in the current month is likely to drive the market further. Weakness in the global oil prices may see some action in PSU oil stocks. However, as the market has peaked to record highs since the past few sessions, investors should exercise caution due to inevitable correction.

For the Nifty, the 3052 is a key resistance and a break above this level could see the index test higher levels around 3100. It has an important support at 3020. The Sensex has a crucial support at 10110 and may face stiff resistance at 10240.

A sharp drop in the crude oil prices coupled with lower bond yields helped the US indices register strong gains on Wednesday. While the Dow Jones advanced 68 points at 11137, the Nasdaq gained 20 points to close at 2283. Indian ADRs had a decent outing on the US bourses. ICICI Bank led the pack with gains of over 2% while VSNL and Rediff gained over 1% each. Infosys, Wipro, Tata Motors, MTNL and Patni Computers ended with decent gains. HDFC Bank, however, dropped 4%, while Dr Reddy's and Satyam also closed in the red.

Global crude oil prices dropped yesterday, with the Nymex light crude oil for April delivery falling by $1.73 to close at $61.01 a barrel. The London Brent crude was down 36 cents at $60.08 per barrel. In the commodity space, the Comex gold for April delivery added 20 cents to settle at $556.80 an ounce.

Scrips to watch

Ranbaxy has lost a patent battle to Pfizer in the Finland court and has been barred from selling Atovastatin.

Rumours are that Videocon has held preliminary discussions for a global acquisition of Korea’s Daewoo Electronics.

Bajaj Auto Finance has sold 5% stake amounting to 35 lakh shares on a private placement bais to private equity fund Chrys Capital for Rs40-45 crore.

Aurobindo Pharma has ended its 50:50 joint venture agreement with Citadel Fine Pharmaceutical in Citadel Aurobindo Biotech.