The Hindu Business Line : Bear domination

Bears dominated Thursday's trading activity. However, the sentiment reading of the tradable counters changed to neutral. Bull move on Friday is likely to change the sentiment reading in their favour. On the contrary, the sentiment reading may turn bearish.

NIFTY FUTURES

The February month contract opened with a bear gap of around 8 points from its previous close. The contract moved within a range of around 95 points making an intra-day low of 4037.15. It closed with a loss of around 69 points from its previous close.

The open position in the February month contract was allowed to expire. Fresh entry levels are provided for the March month contract. Bear move on Friday is likely to initiate a fresh downtrend in the March month contract.

STOCK FUTURES

The composition of the top-10 tradable list had no changes. However, the ranking had minor changes. IDBI, Tata Steel, Hindalco and ICICI moved up, while SBI and Century Tex moved down in the ranking. The top-3 tradable counters in this segment were Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and SBI.

Today being the expiry day, all the open positions were allowed to expire. Fresh entry levels are provided for March month contract. There are ample opportunities on either side for Friday's trading. The best among them is likely to be buying in Hindalco. This counter is in sideways mode. Bull move on Friday is likely to initiate a fresh uptrend in this counter.

CASH SEGMENT

The composition and ranking of the top-10 tradable list had minor changes. Satyam, SRF and TCS gave way to Andhra Bank, ICICI and ACC. Tata Steel, Zee Tele, SAIL, IDBI, Hindalco and Infosys moved up in the ranking, while SBI moved down. Andhra Bank occupied seventh position in the ranking. The short exit level for Satyam is placed at 470.40. The long exit level for SRF and TCS are placed at 163.05 and 1285.95, respectively.

There are seven downtrend counters and three uptrend counters in the top-10 tradable list. The downtrend counters Hindalco and Infosys are likely to be under threat for Friday's trading. On the other hand, the uptrend counters Tata Steel and Zee Tele are likely to be terminated. There are two opportunities on either side for Friday's trading. The best among them is likely to be selling in Tata Steel. This counter is in uptrend. Bear move on Friday is likely to reverse the prevailing trend 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 technical analyst and fund management consultant.