Experts see higher likelihood of cuts than upmove in mkts

Excerpts from Closing Bell on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » RELATED NEWS Nifty ends choppy session higher; HUL plunges 4.5% More chances of 10% dip than rally for Sensex: Ambit Markets may move higher by year-end: Motilal Oswal Rangebound markets: What should investors do now?

After remaining sluggish the entire day, the markets recovered in the last 10 minutes of trade. The Nifty ended Thursday at 5,147, up 31 points, while the Sensex shut shop at 17,207, up 109 points. Volumes continue to remain thin at Rs 83,300 crore. The gap between the advances and declines worsened towards the end of trade. The breadth at the end of trade was 1:2 in favour of declines.

So, where do experts see markets heading for the next few days?

Andrew Holland of Ambit Capital is not too optimistic about the markets gaining momentum. He feels there are more chances of a 10% fall than a rally for the Sensex. "Valuations continue to remain challenging. Fundamentally, there are no earnings upgrades likely this quarter. There is also no real incremental secondary market flows to lend support."

Satish Betadpur, MD, IIR Group, PLC, too does not see a robust one way or another movement in markets for a while. "In the mid-term, inflation fears may crop up whenever numbers come out. Barring that, we just have to wait for earnings before we see any major market moves."

Similarly, Amit Khurana, Co-Head - Institutional Equities Head - Research, Mangal Keshav, says the markets will continue to trade in a very tight range over the next two sessions. "We don't see a substantial downside from here. However, the upside will have its own resistance levels to meet. This is a typical case of a plus-minus 10%."