Top Stock Market action to look out for today

The Nifty is likely to remain in an uptrend on the first trading day of August as strong overseas cues and mostly better monthly auto sales drive long positions. Traders may remain bullish as the new settlement in the derivatives space takes deeper roots and the parliament logjam shows signs of thawing.

Prices of diesel and petrol were cut over the weekend. This may enthuse traders further. However, the bullish sentiment will be capped as major earnings so far have disappointed investors and the much anticipated corporate revival has not materialized as yet.

Meanwhile, the SGX Nifty signals a 5-point gap up opening for the Nifty on Monday.

Global cues are mostly positive. Major Indices in the US rose between 0.01-0.3 percent on Friday, posted overall gains of between 1.4 percent and 1.8 percent on a weekly basis. Similar strong moves were visible on European markets with top indices adding 2.3-3.2 percent on the week. Sentiment from the commodity space is positive. Gold Futures slipped further to fresh 5-1/2 year lows; Oil Futures fell and the metal complex shows no signs of edging up. Markets in Asia, however, are in a downdraft.

Meanwhile, the Nifty Index closed at 8,532 points, up 111 points, on Friday, surging 2.1 percent in July. The index is now trading substantially above its 200-DMA, indicating that bulls are in control of the market. The Nifty has a strong support at 8,315 levels while the resistance is seen at the 8,550-8,600 point level.

Sentiment is mixed in the cash market. Foreign Institutional Investors posted net sales of `278 crores on Friday, their 5th day of sales. This was more than offset with net buys of `1,021 crores from domestic investors. The derivatives space saw purchases worth 1,155 crore rupees for Index Futures; Purchases of 341 crore rupees for Stock Futures; Purchases of `1,340 crore rupees for Index options and net buys as well of 158 crore rupees for Stock Options.

Major earnings today are from HCL Tech, Bharat Forge, 3M India and Atul Auto. Meanwhile, delivery based buying was seen on ICICI Bank to the tune of 550 crores on Friday.

Image credit: Indiatimes