Top stocks to watch out for today

The selling pressure is likely to be unabated on stocks on Monday as a global sell-off in equities accelerates in Asia. Chinese markets are down as much as 8 percent as a slowdown in their economy reverberates across the world. in short, the trade set up is scary for the bulls.

Investors are facing a sharp erosion in the value of their holdings as the SGX Nifty signals a 175-point gap down opening in Nifty futures today. Stocks across Asia are deep in the red with gashes ranging from 3 percent to 8 percent. Stocks in Japan are at 5-month lows and Chinese equities have erased their gains for 2015.

Bears are in full control of all equity markets across the world. Apart from Asia, stocks in the Middle East fell sharply last Friday as a dip in crude oil prices played havoc with balance sheets of countries who depend on oil revenues to finance expenses. Major US indices crashed 3.1-3.5 percent of Friday as investors and traders grappled with potential slippages in global GDP, led mostly by China. The weekly fall in the US markets was the worst in four years.

Oil futures slipped below the $40/bbl mark in the commodities market. Safe haven demand for Gold and Silver futures is seen. Gold futures posted their biggest weekly rise since January.

Meanwhile, the Nifty Index fell 73 points to 8,299 on Friday. Support is pictured at 8,100 points while resistance is seen at 8,430-8,520 points. The Bank Nifty lost 226 points to 18,057 points on relentless selling in private and public sector banks.

Cash markets are in a sea of red. Foreign Institutional Investors remained net sellers for the fourth day. They sold a whopping 2,417 crores rupees of local shares, the largest sell figure in at least one month. Local institutions stepped up their net purchases with a total of 1,524 crore rupees on Friday.

The derivatives space was in a bear grip. Traders pressed a huge net sale figure of 2,417 crore rupees for Index Futures; Net sales of 439 crore rupees for Stock Futures; Purchases of 1,980 crore rupees for Index options and net sales of 29 crore rupees for Stock Options.

Delivery based selling was seen in BHEL, L&T and Just Dial.

STOCKS TO WATCH

INDIAN OIL CORP: The government intends to sell a 10 percent stake in Indian Oil Corp via an offer for sale of 10 percent equity at a floor price of 387 rupees per share.

Image credit: Indiatimes