The Hindu Business Line : Lacklustre movement

BULLS managed to gain from Wednesday's trading activity. The sentiment reading of the tradable counters stands strongly bullish. Bear domination on Thursday is likely to change the sentiment reading in their favour. Otherwise, the prevailing bullish sentiment is likely to continue with a slight change in its value.

Nifty futures recommendation: The September month contract moved within a close band of nine points. Neither the bulls nor the bears could gain from the day's trading. The September contract closed just a point above Tuesday's close.

The day's move had no impact on the recommended levels. The exit level for the long position in the September contract is now locked up with a nominal profit of 11 points and this is placed very close to its current level. Bear pressure on Thursday is likely to terminate the uptrend in September contract.

Stock futures recommendation: The composition as well as the ranking of the top-10 tradable counters remains unchanged. Trading activity in Gujarat Ambuja Cement was quite hectic on Wednesday with more than 4,300 trades. The exit level for the uptrend in M&M is placed at Rs 428.65.

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Except for ONGC and Satyam, all the other counters in the list are in the uptrend. Bear pressure on Thursday could be a threat to most of the uptrend counters in the list. On the other hand, the lone downtrend counter-ONGC is likely to be terminated. Buying opportunities are likely to exist in three counters. Bears are likely to have opportunity in as much as eight counters. Buying in Maruti is likely to be the best for Thursday's trading. Bullish trigger level for this counter is placed within two rupees from its current level. Bull pressure on Thursday is likely to initiate the uptrend in Maruti.

Cash segment: There were no new entries or exits to the top-10 tradable list. The ranking of the list too remains unchanged. Bears were successful in initiating the downtrend in the recommended counter-ONGC.

Most of the counters in the list are in the uptrend. Bear domination on Thursday is likely to terminate most of the counters in the list. Bull pressure on Thursday could be a threat to the downtrend in ONGC. Buying opportunities are likely to exist in three counters. Selling opportunities are likely to exist in six counters. Buying in Satyam is likely to be the best bet for Thursday's trading. Bull move on Thursday has the potential to trigger 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 technical analyst and fund management consultant.