Trading to be weak this week

Even as Samvat 2063 began on an auspicious note with a gain of 27.42 points on the benchmark BSE Sensex to 12,736.82, trading on the markets is likely to be dull this week, though the undertone is bullish.

Though the much-anticipated 13,000-level is a certainty in the coming weeks, analysts point out that the Sensex faces "nervous nineties" before it crosses every 1,000 points.

With results season already behind the markets, except for mid- and small-cap companies, there could also be some profit-booking by operators, who build up positions before the results, anticipating robust quarterly earnings, said a dealer in a local brokerage house.

With the stock markets closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, the trading will be lacklustre this week, he said. This would also mean that there are just two trading days for rolling over derivatives contracts "" Monday and Thursday.

"Most of the rollovers are likely to happen on Monday itself," said a technical analyst with another brokerage house.

Analysts also expect the US Federal Reserve, which is meeting this week, to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent.

"It is almost sure that Fed will keep the rates unchanged. This will also be a big positive as foreign funds look for more attractive investment destinations such as India," the analyst said.

The Muhurat trading on Saturday, which was marked by festivities in all the brokerage houses, also saw Bombay Stock Exchange launching its Hindi website. During the last 10 years, the BSE Sensex fell only once "" in 1997 when the index slipped by over 100 points.

On the Muhurat day, BSE also felicitated top 10 brokerage houses by volume during 2005-2006. The broking houses are Angel Broking, BLB Ltd, CLSA India, DSP Merrill Lynch, H J Securities Pvt Ltd, J M Morgan Stanley Securities, Kotak Securities, Motilal Oswal Securities, Sam Global Securities and Sharekhan Ltd.

BSE also launched 'MobiTrack' during the occasion to provide stock quotes on the mobile phones.

"MobiTrack allows investors, who have a WebX log-in ID and password to access MobiTrack through his/her GPRS handset," said a BSE press release.