Pre-market: Soft opening seen

After the Budget announcement on Friday, the stock market declined by over 1 per cent.

The US markets were flat on Friday. On Monday, Asian markets are trading mixed. Hong Kong is up over half percent, Japan is up 0.3 per cent, while Shanghai is trading flat.

The SGX Nifty is trading marginally positive; it’s up 8.5 points over Friday’s close at 5341 points, which should set the trend for our market. The overall trend will be determined by how the market reacts to the fine print of the budget announcements. From a technical point of view, if the Sensex sustains over 17,200 points, then a deeper correction is ruled out. If the Sensex breaks the 17,200 level, it could fall to 16,500 by March end.

Pantaloon Retail will be a stock to watch after a news report that the company will become debt–free in a year. Benefits for the power sector such as duty exemption for LNG, allowing external commercial borrowings and extension of tax holiday will keep stocks like NTPC, Reliance Power and Adani Power buzzing.

The thrust on low cost housing could see some positive trends in real estate developers such as HDIL and lenders like LIC Housing Finance.

The increase in import duty on steel means good news for Indian steel makers like Tata Steel, Sail and JSW Steel.

The increase in duties on automobiles and auto components will keep Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti on investors’ radars.

The increase in duties on gold and silver will keep the Titan Industries share muted.