PRE MARKET REPORT - 17.01.2008

TCS beats the street, bulls retreat The fall on the BSE was sharp and vicous enough for the investors to panic. BSE at one point lost nearly 800 points before bouncing back in the last one hour. Global markets were reeling under severe selling pressure and the scenario reminds of the last global fall in 2007 Feb when chinese govt. hiked interest rates injecting a global panic. The key difference is the bounce is equally sharp last time and this time there appears to be no reason to bounce. TCS beats the street with exemplory results with a 19% jump in the net profit. The company is more focussed on emerging economies and reducing the exposure to US. Growth in operating margins of IT biggies is definitely worth noting with TCS contuining the trend intiated by Infosys, offsetting the strong Rupee.US Markets could not sustain at higher levels and continued to drift down. Indian Markets are likely to consolidate today and Midcaps are showing signs of resistance. Reliance Power and Future Capital IPO continued to take the sheen away from the secondary markets with huge interest from retail investors oversubscribing the issues 13 and 132 times respectively.We are not cautious on Indian Markets at these levels except for volatility. We believe markets are likely to move up after a decent consolidation. But major up moves cannot be expected with global turmoil buzz doing rounds. Patience pays and this time it will be big. Close Box BSE Sensex : 19868.109 -382.98NSE Nifty : 5935.75 -138.5USD : Rs.39.27Oil : $90.84