The Hindu Business Line : Bears prevail

Bears prevailed over Friday's trading activity. The sentiment reading of the tradable counters changed to bearish. Bull move on Monday is likely to change the sentiment reading in its favour. On the contrary, the prevailing bearish sentiment is likely to be strengthened with additional counters.

Nifty Futures: The March contract opened with a bear gap of around 8 points from its previous close. It moved within a range of around 153 points making an intra-day low of 3915. The contract closed with a loss of around 135 points from its previous close.

It entered into a new short position. The short exit and long entry levels are placed far away from its last traded price. These levels are unlikely to be triggered during Monday's trading.

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Stock Futures: The composition of the top-10 tradable list had no changes. However the ranking had minor changes. ICICI and Century Tex interchanged their positions. The top-3 tradable counters in this segment were Reliance Industries, IVRCL and Tata Steel.

There are seven downtrend counters and two uptrend counters in the top-10 tradable list. The uptrend counters are likely to be terminated. There are three selling opportunities and a lone buying opportunity for Monday's trading. The best among them is likely to be selling in SBI. This counter is in sideways mode. Bear move on Monday is likely to initiate a fresh downtrend in this counter.

Cash Segment: The composition and ranking of the top-10 tradable list had minor changes. ACC gave way to Bajaj Auto. Bajaj Auto occupied tenth position in the ranking. Andhra Bank, Hindalco, Infosys and ICICI moved up in the ranking while Zee Tele and SBI moved down. The short exit level for Satyam is placed at 469.25. The long exit level for ACC is placed at 894.95.

Most of the counters in the top-10 tradable list are in downtrend. The downtrend counters Andhra bank and Zee Tele are likely to be under threat for Monday's trading. On the other hand, the uptrend counter Tata Steel is likely to be terminated. There are two opportunities on either side for Monday's trading. The best among them is likely to be selling in Tata Steel. This counter is in uptrend. Bear move on Monday 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.