Getting past 4k: Who's going to lead the way?

The week ended December 1, 2006 saw both indices doing remarkably well; both reached new highs. With the Nifty and the Sensex exhibiting bullish candlesticks, the bias going into this week is definitely positive.

In tandem with the upbeat trend, the markets opened in the green. Traders are bullish on auto, power, banking stocks. However, in the morning session, selling pressure was witnessed in IT and refineries.

Last week FMCG, autos, banks and the capital goods sector outperformed the Sensex. Experts believe that the momentum in the market is only getting stronger as it gets broader. With the midcaps also seen to be participating in the rally, what does the market hold in store for us going forward?

Analysts believe that Nifty crossing 4000 points is just a reassurance of how strong the fundamentals of the market are. Within the FMCG space, ITC , Dabur and Marico seem to be looking up.  

Rajesh Jain of Pranav Securities views the stocks in this space as a definite buy. "I would stick with the Marico , Dabur ,  HLL and ITC ."

As far as Marico and Dabur go, he says that their business model is very strong. "We are continuing to see good brand editions and good marketing strategies. They have made success stories of marketing them across the country."

He sees Hindustan Lever and ITC as safe buys for half a decade, as one could certainly triple their money in both these stocks.

Technical Analyst, Prakash Gaba is not only positive about HLL and ITC, he is bullish on the banking space, SBI in particular.

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral, says that SBI has a target of around Rs 1360, and is now getting into a territory where one should keep a trailing stop loss of around Rs 1240 and keep riding the stock.

Taking the cue from there, technical analyst, Deepak Mohoni says that four Sensex stocks are stronger than the rest; two telecomm stocks - Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communication and the two banks ICICI Bank and State Bank of India. "They are carrying the most momentum. And if one wants to pick four Sensex stocks that will outperform the Sensex these are the four."

Moving on to the auto space, Sanju Verma of HDFC Securities likes Maruti Udyog and Bajaj Auto . Another stock that has been doing very well is Mahindra and Mahindra . Anil Manghnani of Modern Shares and Stock Brokers suggests buying this stock on every decline.

Meanwhile, in the power sector, ABB appears to be favourite. Mehraboon Irani of Darashaw & Company is of the view that one shouldn't sell ABB.

From a trading perspective, Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral says that ABB has a target of Rs 3730.

He further added that Siemens reached its target of Rs 1,400 and now will probably move sideways for a while.

Another power stock that has been trading in the green is Alstom Projects . Sandeepa Arora of India Infoline is of the view that one should continue to hold this stock.

Ashwani Gujral says that the stocks seems to be consolidating around Rs 444.50, and once it can take that level out one could look at a target of about Rs 570 with a support around Rs 422. 

So as the markets continue to trade in the green, on the back of positive movement seen in the above mentioned sectors, keep your eyes open for those winning plays.

By Crystal Barretto