In the zone

The markets in the last week mainly remained in the buyersrsquo zone due to expectations of a timely monsoon and the possibility of interest rate cut by RBI But sell off seen in the selected counters kept the markets away from more highs Going forward Nifty has resistance at 8489 and 8542 and support at 8366 and 8305Sterlite technologies in the last week came out with better earnings where its net profit jumped about fourfold The net profit of the power and telecom gear maker stood at Rs 3913 crore for the quarter that ended March 31 as compared to Rs 1015 crore in the same period last yearThe companyrsquos standalone income for the period under review increased by 5162 per cent to Rs 97910 crore from Rs 64574 crore in the same period last year The company said that it had a strong order book of Rs 4711 crore at the end of FY15 as compared to Rs 2521 crore in the previous year The board has also approved a corporate restructuring planAnnouncementsGabriel India announced its corporate numbers for the quarter that ended March 2015 where the net profit of the company rose 5558 per cent to Rs 1296 crore as compared to Rs 833 crore during the previous quarter that ended March 2014 The sales also rose 433 per cent to Rs 34492 crore as against Rs 33062 crore during the quarter that ended March 2014For the full year that ended March 2015 the net profit rose 4089 per cent to Rs 6202 crore as against Rs 4260 crore in the same period last year The sales was up 1219 per cent to Rs 142984 crore in the year under review as compared to Rs 127452 crore in the previous year ended March 2014According to a study the valuations of holdings by the domestic institutional investors in the NSE listed companies has rose to a six year high of Rs 1021 lakh crore at the end of March According to Prime Database the DII holding in NSE listed companies were up 501 per cent at the end of March 31 as compared to 458 per cent on an aggregate basisIn term of firms Balmer Lawrie has the highest DII holding of 7303 per cent which was followed by CARE 4551 per cent 3i Infotech 4542 per cent GTL infrastructure 3816 per cent and LT 3609 per cent The increase in the holdings was driven by the reform measures taken by the central governmentLast week for global markets the main concerns was the possibility of rate hike by the US central bank But weak data made investors think that the rate hike may cause delays In the Federal Reserversquos minutes officials said it would be premature to raise interest rates in June Also in the Euro zone the investorrsquos focus was on the developments on Greece All other markets around the globe were tracking US marketsMarketsIn the US markets durables goods order consumer confidence new home sales Markit services PMI initial and continuing jobless claims and GDP are the ones to watch out Economic sentiment consumer confidence business confidence and Industrial sentiments are the triggers to focus in the Euro zone area For the Indian markets in the week ahead data like current account GDP and the infrastructure data may be main triggersApart from this in the earnings corner Igarashi motors Tata Invest Inox Leisure Ushamart Jyothy lab Eclerx KRBL Bombay Dyeing Heidelberg Rpower Tata motors Dish TV Dredging Corporation BHEL ABG Ship IDBI Suven Life Tata Communication Shalimar Paints Selan LT EID Parry National Aluminum Gujarat Apollo Asian Tiles and EI hotel are some of the companies to announce their earnings this week which could affect the market performanceIT Pharma and auto stocks may lead the rally and selective selling can be expected in cement and capital good stocks Midcap and small cap stocks may remain rangebound during the weekGold is facing resistance at 121520 and a move above this will take the gold price towards 1225 and more per troy ounceAlex K Mathews is the author of Financial Services And Systems as well as Option Trading Bear Market Strategies published by Tata McGraw Hill He is also the technical and derivatives research head of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd The author may have a vested interest in investments he has recommended Feel free to email him at alexgeojitcom Geojit BNP Paribas has membership in and is listed on the National Stock Exchange NSE and the Bombay Stock Exchange BSE