The Hindu Business Line : Bear run arrested

THE sentiment reading of the tradable counters stands absolutely bearish. Bull domination on Thursday is likely to reduce the bear count to a bare minimum thereby neutralising the sentiment reading. Otherwise, the prevailing sentiment is likely to continue.

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Nifty Futures Recommendation: The April contract moved quite violently during the initial hours of Wednesday's trading. Thereafter, it moved within a very close band. The April contract moved within a band of 34 points registering an intra-day low of 1798.00 after making a high of 1831.70. It closed with a marginal gain of four points.

The short position in the April contract remains intact. Thursday being the expiry day for the April contract, the short position may be held with the stop loss placed at 1831.75. This is locked-up with a decent profit of 35 points. Bullish entry level is given for the May contract and this is placed slightly far away.

Stock Futures Recommendation: There were no new entries or exits to the top-10 tradable list. The ranking of the list had some changes. State Bank moved to the second position and GAIL to the sixth position. The day's move had no impact on the recommended counter-Satyam.

Except for CNX IT and Infosys, all the other counters in the list are likely to be under threat. Entry levels for all the counters are given for May contract. Opportunities are likely to exist on the long side of Infosys, ONGC, Satyam and State Bank. The best among the above is likely to be State Bank. Bullish trigger level for this counter is placed closer to its current level. Bull move on Thursday is likely to trigger this level.

Cash Segment: The composition of the top-10 tradable list remains intact. The ranking of the list underwent changes. State Bank moved to the fourth position followed by Reliance and Tata Steel. Bears were successful in triggering the downtrend in the recommended counter-Maruti.

Bull domination on Thursday is likely to terminate most of the downtrend counters in the list. Buying opportunities are likely to exist in ONGC, State Bank and Satyam. The best bet is likely to be Satyam. This counter is closed at 318.40. Bull pressure on Thursday is likely to initiate the uptrend in Satyam.

(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.