Ten stocks in focus in Thursday morning trade

NEW DELHI: Indian markets are expected to trade in a range on Thursday following muted trend seen in other Asian markets. The key support for the index is around 6,561 levels.

"The Nifty is expected to trend up till 6640 in the next couple of days. In this period the key support will be at 6561 and resistance will be at 6627," said Somil Mehta, Senior Tech Analyst (Equity) at Sharekhan.

"The Nifty has been forming higher tops and higher bottoms; it has also closed above the previous swing's high which is a positive sign for the market," he added. Mehta is of the view that the short-term bias for the Nifty remains positive for a target of 6690 with reversal at 6470.

The medium-term outlook also remains positive as the index has started forming higher tops and higher bottoms on the weekly chart and the momentum indicator has given a positive cross-over, he added.

Here is a list of ten stocks which are likely to be in focus in trade today:

TCS Ltd: A leading Saudi Arabian Bank and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have inked a pact to implement a new core banking software platform that is likely to "transform" the bank's customer service delivery system.

Reliance Industries Ltd: RIL won two exploration blocks in Myanmar, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Also, the Oil Ministry has summoned the oil & major and consumers who use its KG-D6 gas for a meeting later this week to decide on extending sales contract beyond March 31.

JSW Steel Ltd: India's No. 3 steel maker, said it expects imports of metallurgical coal to stay flat at 7-8 million tonnes in 2014/15, indicating its mills will continue to run below capacity due to soft demand and a shortage of iron ore.

Financial Technologies Ltd: The US-based CME Group, one of the world's largest futures and options exchanges; Deutsche Borse, operator of Frankfurt Stock Exchange; R-ADA Group; BSE; and Kotak have lined up to purchase Financial Technologies' (India) (FTIL) stake in commodity bourse MCX, people aware of the development told ET.

CARE Ltd: IL&FS Financial Service has reduced its stake in Credit Analysis and Research (CARE) by two per cent in a transaction valued at Rs 45 crore.

Sesa Sterlite Ltd: A panel set up by Supreme court recommended lifting a ban on iron ore mining in Goa, albeit with conditions that include lowering production. Miners in the state, which exported almost all its ore before the Supreme Court order in October 2012, should limit output to 20 million metric tons, the panel said today in a report.

ONGC, BPCL, HPCL: Connsumers are likely to get a bit of respite from high fuel prices next month as oil marketing companies are expected to cut petrol prices by up to R2 a litre. Also, the government is contemplating whether the companies should increase diesel price by 50 paise or not, said media reports.

State Bank of Travancore: The public sector bank which is an associate of SBI, approved to raise equity capital up to Rs 629 by issuing new shares on rights basis.