Pre-market: Marginal losses seen in opening trade

Markets are expected to edge lower in the morning session on back of subdued global cues. The Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange fell 10 points, at 5699.

Markets may continue to remain choppy on account of derivatives expiry this week coinciding with the financial year end. Yesterday Nifty ended a tad below the 5700 mark, at 5687. Technical charts indicate weakness in the short-term as markets looked overbought, a technical term used when a security moves on higher volumes.

Edelweiss in the morning note said, "The hourly technical charts indicate that oscillators have reached overbought levels, showing initial signs of negative divergence. In the immediate short-term Nifty can consolidate sideways or correct between 5700-5620 under a weakening momentum setup." However Edelweiss expects the trend to remain up in the short to the medium term.

Across Asia, markets were trading mostly in the red following weak overnight cues from Wall Street. US Markets ended lower led by low volume and earnings concern. Nikkei Average fell 140 points, as Japan struggled to bring down the earthquake striken nuclear power plant under control. Hang Seng's Hong Kong fell 41 points on back of losses in heavy weight and property developers. Shanghai Composite was also down 7 points.

According to the provisional data, (FIIs) Foreign Institutional Investors were net buyers of Rs 890 crore in the cash markets, while DIIs (Domestic Instiutional Investors) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 287.5 crore.