Money Tree

GLOBAL MARKETS

US Markets

The US Markets again closed almost flat on Friday.

Dow Jones closed at 13408.62 down 13.66 points or 0.10% percent.
Nasdaq Composite closed at 2603.23 down 5.14 points or 0.20 percent .

Europian Markets

The Europian Markets closed strong with DAX up more than 1 percent.

FTSE (UK) closed at 6607.90 up 36.60 points or 0.56%. .
DAX (Germany) closed at 8007.32 up 85.96 points or 1.09%
CAC (France) closed at 6054.93 up 48.62 points or 0.81% .

Asian Markets

The Asian markets closed mixed on friday with Hang Seng and Kospi drifting down.

NIKKEI(JAPAN) closed at 18138.36 up 206.09 points.
HANG SENG (HONG KONG) closed at 21772.73 down 165.49 point.
KOSPI (SOUTH KOREA) closed at 1743.6 down 8.15 points.
STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE) closed at 3548.2 up 9.97 points.
SENSEX (INDIA) closed at 14650.51 up 145.94 points.
NIFTY (INDIA) closed at 4318.3 up 36.3 points.

FOREX

USD/ INR 40.70
EUR/ USD 01.35
USD/ JPY 123.405

GOLD (MCX)

8662/ 10gm

CRUDE

$70.68/ Bb

Today’s Market outlook

We had a smart rally on friday on the back of some short covering and good inflation numbers. The NIFTY had closed much above 4300 level and is just short from its strong resistance of 4320. The US markets have closed flat on friday and the Asian markets have also opened almost flat with NIKKEI down about 10 points. The first quarter results would start coming in and the markets are eagerly waiting for the performance of IT companies and their guidance for the coming quarters in the light of appreciating rupee and that might give a direction to the markets. The markets would not be able to rally from here onwards without the participation of IT. Another cause of concern at these levels is the rising crude prices which have gone past $70 mark per barrel and if it continues to rise some pressure would be there on our crude basket and the oil prices here in India will also rise leading to rise in prices of most of the commodities. The appreciating rupee will undo the effect of rising crude to some extent but after some time the rising crude prices would start troubling us a bit. In may 2006 when our markets had a sharp knock, the crude was above $70 per barrel and later on it eased off to $55 per barrel and our markets bounced back. However this was not the only cause of the sharp knock but this was one of the several causes which triggered the sell off. We recommend investors to remain cautious and watchful at these levels and book profits on rallies. We expect a flat opening today and towards the end of the session we may see some profit booking and the markets may drift down.