The Hindu Business Line : Bear onslaught

THE sentiment reading of the tradable counters stands bearish. Bull domination on Friday is likely to reduce the bear count by a considerable margin thereby neutralizing the sentiment reading. Otherwise, the prevailing sentiment is likely to continue with a slight change in its value.

Nifty futures recommendation: The March contract opened with a weak note on Thursday and remained so throughout the day. It registered an intra-day low of 1797.50 as it moved within a band of 39 points. The March contract closed weaker for the third successive trading day.

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The downtrend in the March contract remained intact. In the normal course of trading on Thursday, the short position is unlikely to be disturbed. Bullish trigger is placed far away and this is unlikely to be triggered on Friday.

Stock futures recommendation: There were no new entries or exits to the top-10 tradeable list. The ranking of the list had a minor change. Satyam Computer and Tata Power interchanged their position. The exit level for the short position in ACC is placed at 266.40.

Thursday's market action resulted in initiating the downtrend in the recommended counter-ONGC. Bull domination on Friday could be a threat to most of the downtrend counters in the list. On the other hand, the lone uptrend counter-Tata Power is likely to be terminated. Selling opportunities are likely to exist in Satyam and Tata Power. Buying opportunities are likely to exist in CNX IT, Maruti, Reliance and Satyam. The best among the above is likely to be the selling in Tata Power. This counter is in the uptrend. Its exit and bearish trigger levels are placed closer to its current level. Bear pressure on Friday is likely to trigger these levels.

Cash segment: The composition of the top-10 tradable list remains unchanged. The ranking of the list too remains the same with no major changes. The downtrend in SAIL is likely to be terminated at 42.60. Bear domination during the day triggered the downtrend in the recommended counter-ONGC. However, the termination level of the initiated downtrend is in the danger zone. All the counters in the list are in the bearish mode. Bull pressure on Friday is likely to terminate most of the downtrend counters. For Friday, opportunities are likely to exist only on the long side. This is likely to exist in Infosys, Maruti and Satyam. The best among the above is likely to be Satyam. This counter has closed at 299.00. Its buy level is placed within Rs 6 from this level. Bull move on Friday is likely to reverse the prevailing downtrend in this counter.

(Note: All price levels refer to the absolute value of the shares traded on the NSE. There is risk of loss in trading.)

The author is a Chennai-based technical analyst and fund management consultant.