Pre-market: Rangebound trade likely

Derivative expiry, political developments likely to impact sentiment

The markets are likely to remain volatile this week ahead of the August derivatives expiry on Thursday, August 30. On Monday, markets closed down around half a per cent each with weakness in realty and metal shares.

The Nifty is likely to test 5,300-level soon, feels technical analysts. Further weakness can take the index to 5,260-odd levels. The index is likely to face hurdle around 5,400 in the near term. As per the daily Fibonacci charts, the Nifty is likely to seek support around 5,330-5,315, while face resistance around 5,370-5,385.

On Monday, Dow slipped 33 points to 13,124 as the Federal Reserve said that it was releasing quarterly unaudited results of its operations. In Asian markets, indices are trading with a negative bias as the Nikkei and Hang Seng have slipped 0.3 per cent each. Shanghai Composite continued to slump nearly 2 per cent.

At 700 am Indian Standard Time, the SGX Nifty was trading at 5,381 - up nine points.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Among individual stocks,  Larsen and Toubro  has decided to sell its entire stake in L&T Plastic Machinery Ltd to Japan’s Toshiba Machine Co Ltd for an undisclosed sum, in line with the company’s strategy to realign portfolios and focus on core business units.

The economic slowdown is likely to spread to the FMCG sector, which has so far been able to keep its head above the water, according to leading brokerage Edelweiss Securities.

Videocon is looking forward to invest Rs 800-1,000 crore in Punjab. The investment activities would include capacity augmentation, deployment of additional 1,000 BTS sites, business portfolio diversification and Research & Development. The stock may be in focus today.

In an effort to reach out to the more consumers, Zee Entertainment Enterprises is planning to go for a digital marketing drive. This may bring the stock in limelight today.