Pre Market Commentary ...

Today, the Indian market is likely to extend Wednesday's gains, at least at the start. Things could turn uncertain and sideways afterwards as most players would likely remain restrained ahead of the Railway Budget tomorrow and the Union Budget on Monday. The Economic Survey for FY09 will be presented in the parliament today.

We believe the Budget will be neutral from markets’ perspective. Expectations have been muted and rightly so. No point speculating on a big event like budget. The right approach is to wait for the event to unfold and then take a call. At the same time, one should not be too pessimistic either.

Economic activity across the globe is on a recovery path, though in the mature economies things are still precarious. Back home, mixed signals are coming from the latest data points. Manufacturing sector continues to show encouraging signs, as do the monthly sales volume of auto and cement companies. On the export front though, the gloom persists and is unlikely to end anytime soon. In fact, even inflationary expectations may escalate following the fuel price hike.

Also bear in mind, Wednesday's rally was pretty much restricted to the large caps, while the broader market remained subdued. Market breadth was negative and turnover too was down from the previous day. As far as fund action goes, the FIIs were net buyers while the local institutions chose to lock in some gains.