The Hindu Business Line : Initial gains lost

THE sentiment reading of the tradable counters stands bullish. Bear domination on Thursday is likely to change the sentiment reading in their favour. Otherwise, the prevailing sentiment is likely to continue with a slight change in its value.

Nifty futures recommendation: The May month contract opened around its close and made steady gains during the morning session of the day's trading. However, during the wee hours of the day's trading, bears managed to wipe out their losses. The May contract moved within a band of 43 points. It closed with a marginal loss of 2 points.

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Initial bull move led to the initiation of the uptrend in the May contract. However, this is likely to be under threat for Thursday. Thursday being the expiry day for the May contract bearish trigger level is given for the June contract. This level is placed quite far away from its last traded value.

Stock futures recommendation: There were no new entries or exits to the top-10 tradable list. The ranking of list had a minor change. ACC and ONGC interchanged their positions. Wednesday's market action had no impact on the recommended counter — GAIL.

Except for the uptrend in CNX IT, all the other uptrend counters in the list are likely to be under threat. The prevailing downtrend counters in the list are likely to be safe. Fresh entry levels for all the counters are given for the June contract. Buying opportunities are unlikely to exist for Thursday's trading. Selling opportunities are likely to exist in six counters. The best is likely to be Tata Steel. This counter is in the sideways mode. Bearish trigger level for Tata Steel is placed very close to its level. Bear pressure on Thursday is likely to trigger this level.

Cash segment: The top-10 tradable list in this segment underwent a change. HPCL gained entry with the exit of Union Bank. The ranking of the list remains the same with no major changes.

Except for the downtrend in Maruti and Tata Motors, all the other counters in the list are likely to be under threat. Bears are likely to have ample opportunities for Thursday's trading. A lone buying opportunity is likely to exist in HPCL. Selling in Tata Steel is likely to be the best bet for Thursday's trading. Sell level for this counter is placed closer to its current level. Bear move on Thursday has the potential to initiate a fresh downtrend in this counter.

(Note: All price levels refer to the absolute value of the shares traded on the NSE. There is risk of loss in trading.)

The author is a Chennai-based technical analyst and fund management consultant.