The Hindu Business Line : Bear domination

Bears dominated Wednesday's trading activity. The sentiment reading of the tradable counters remains bearish. Bull move on Thursday is likely to change the sentiment reading in their favour. On the contrary the prevailing bearish sentiment is likely to be further strengthened with additional counters.

Nifty futures

The March contract opened with a bull gap of around 39 points from its previous close. However, the bulls could not sustain their initial momentum and gave way to bears. The March contract moved within a range of around 172 points making an intraday low of 3521.10. It closed with a loss of around 28 points from its previous close.

The short position in the March contract exited and entered long. However, the long position was neutralised during the latter part of the trading. Bull move on Thursday is likely to initiate a fresh uptrend in the March contract.

Stock futures

The composition and ranking of the top-10 tradable list had minor changes. Bajaj Auto and TCS gave way to Reliance Capital and Hindalco. Reliance Capital and Hindalco occupied seventh and eighth positions respectively. Century Textiles moved up in the ranking while ICICI Bank, SBI and ACC moved down. The short exit level for Bajaj Auto and TCS are placed at 2510.05 and 1213.75 respectively.

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Most of the counters in the top-10 list are in downtrend. The only uptrend counter Satyam is likely to be under threat for Thursday's trading. There exists a lone selling opportunity in Satyam for Thursday's trading. This counter is in uptrend. Bear move on Thursday is likely to reverse the prevailing trend in this counter.

Cash segment

The composition of the top-10 tradable list had no changes. However, the ranking had minor changes. Zee Tele, Hindalco and Satyam moved up in the ranking, while ACC and Tata Steel moved down.

There are seven downtrend counters and two uptrend counters in the top-10 tradable list. The uptrend counters are likely to be under threat for Thursday's trading. There are two selling opportunities for Thursday's trading. The best among them is likely to be selling in Satyam. This counter is in uptrend. Bear move on Thursday 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.