The Hindu Business Line : Volatile movement

BULLS extended their pressure during the initial hours of Friday's trading activity. Later on, bears took over and were in total control of the day's proceedings. However, the sentiment reading of the tradable counters continues to remain bullish with no downtrend counters. Further bear dominance on Monday is likely to change the sentiment reading in their favour. Otherwise, the prevailing sentiment is likely to continue with a slight change in its value.

Nifty futures: During the initial hours of the day's trading the January contract gained 40 points. Thereafter bears made a strong come back and recouped their losses. The January contract moved within a wide band of 62 points. It closed with a loss of nine points with respect to Thursday's close.

Click here for table

The long position in the January contract remained intact. However, this is likely to be under threat for Monday. The exit level is placed quite close to its last traded value. The bearish trigger level for the January contract is placed far away.

Stock futures: The composition of the top-10 tradable list underwent a change. Tata Power gained entry with the exit of Hind Petro. The ranking of the list had some changes. GAIL moved to the top slot followed by Tata Steel, State Bank and Satyam Computer. The exit level for the long position in Hind Petro is placed at 463.20.

Bear domination on Monday could be a threat to most of the prevailing uptrend counters in the tradable list. Bulls are unlikely to have any opportunity for Monday's trading. Selling opportunities are likely to exist in GAIL, Reliance, Tata Motors and Tata Steel. The best bet is likely to be GAIL for Monday's trading. This counter is in sideways mode. Its bearish trigger level is placed very close to its current level. Bear pressure on Monday is likely to trigger this level.

Cash segment: The composition as well as the ranking of the top-10 tradable list in this segment remains unchanged.

Bear pressure on Monday is likely to terminate the prevailing uptrend counters in the list. Selling opportunities are likely to exist in ONGC, Reliance and Tata Steel. A lone buying opportunity is likely to exist in BPCL. The best among the above is likely to be selling in Reliance. This counter is in sideways mode. Bear move on Monday is likely to initiate the 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.