Pre-market: Nifty seen opening flat; may retest 8100 levels

NEW DELHI: The 50-share Nifty index is expected to open flat on Thursday following muted trend seen in other Asian markets. Tracking the momentum, the index is expected to retest its crucial psychological level of 8,100 in trade today.

At 07:30 a.m., Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were trading 3.50 points lower at 8,128.50 indicating flat opening on the domestic market.

Nifty ended the day with a loss of 58 points at 8094, while Sensex closed with losses of over 200 points at 27057.41 on Wednesday.

"In the immediate term the level of 8040 would continue to serve as an important support for the index. Whether or not this support is respected in next few sessions will decide the future course of action," GEPL Capital said in a report.

"A respect of this support would indicate a bounce back till 8130 - 8150 range whereas if it is breached, then it would mean further sign of weakness which may take the Index may down to 7980 - 7980 range," added the report.

The brokerage firm is of the view that the level of 7920 is the level below which Nifty may face additional selling pressure. The index appears highly overstretched on the upside and we recommend a trailing stop loss of 8040 for all long positions.

With mixed signals on the domestic and international front, the Nifty should consolidate between 8040-8250 levels in near future before any breakout on either side, say analysts.

"In such markets, traders should maintain a stock specific approach while keeping limited positions," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities Limited.

"Among the sectoral indices, banking tops our list for fresh buying followed by media and infra while realty and metals have a negative trend," he added.

Overnight, US stocks edged higher helped by rebound in Apple shares which jumped 3.1 percent to $101, the most actively traded on the Nasdaq.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 54.84 points, or 0.32 percent, at 17,068.71, the S&P 500 gained 7.25 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,995.69 and the Nasdaq Composite added 34.24 points, or 0.75 percent, at 4,586.52.

Asian shares were trading mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index which was trading 0.50 per cent higher at 15,867 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.02 per cent higher at 24,710.

South Korea's Kospi index was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 2,048 and China's Shanghai index was trading 0.35 per cent higher at 2,326.