Bears buckling up to hit the market road: Experts

The key benchmark indices fell today, crippling a six-day bullish rally, as investors turned apprehensive on the uptrend after nation's manufacturing plunged to a nine-month low.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 83 points to close at 18,762.8 and the 50-shares NSE Nifty dropped 20 points to settle at 5,627 levels on the first day of July series. (Check out: Friday's trade)
Analysts across the board are expecting bears to now takeover market momentum from here on; however, they are divided on the strength of decline.
Dipan Mehta, member of BSE & NSE is of the view that the market uptrend may not last longer as investors are likely to lighten up their positions ahead of the earnings' season. He is cautious on high PE value stocks because slight disappointment on revenues front in Q1FY12 will spark a heavy sell off.
Going forward, "funds are likely to shift focus from defensive counters to non-defensive shares like interest-rate sensitive pack," he said, adding that these stocks, which got hammered on uncertainty around inflation and interest rates, are expected to get a new lease of life on government's keen interest to bring down prices and economic reforms.  
According to Rahul Mohindar of viratechindia.com, equities will take a breather from the bull-run. Talking about the zones to watch out for over the short-term, Mohindar stated that the National Exchange's Nifty may decline to 5,500 levels, or perhaps breach even those levels on its downward heels.
For the next three-four sessions, Mohindar explained, "the 50-scrip index is likely to remain range-bound between 5,450 and 5,650 levels. However, the cut is not likely to be severe because drop in volumes and prices have not been grievous.