Market may remain volatile

The market may witness cautious trend as US indices closed on a mixed trend yesterday and Asian indices are exhibiting firm note in the morning trades. Although the bias remains positive, investors should maintain caution as profit taking at higher levels may pull down the market. The market is likely to remain under pressure on account of unwinding of position ahead of February series derivative contracts. Among the local indices the Nifty could test 2850 and 2800 on the downside while on the upper side it may move up to 2950. The Sensex has a likely support at 9300 and may face resistance at 9600.

US indices remained flat on Thursday, influenced by the report that the Obama administration is putting together a plan to subsidize mortgages for troubled homeowners. While the Dow Jones lost 8 points to close at 7933, the Nasdaq advanced by 11 points at 1542.

Except Patni Computers & Satyam which fall with loss of over 4-7% all the Indian ADRs traded firm on the US bourses. MTNL, Wipro, Dr Reddy, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank & Rediff led the pack with gains of 2-3% each while VSNL, Infosys and ICICI Bank gained marginally.

In the crude oil front, the Nymex light crude oil for March 09 series lost by $1.96 to close at $33.98 per barrel. The bullion Comex gold for April delivery raised $4.70 to settle at $950 a troy ounce.