Updated at 0900 hrs: Sensex opens up 31pts at 17551; a 0.18% change

MUMBAI: The Sensex and the Nifty, the benchmark indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, are expected to open subdued on back of mixed Asian cues.

Metals and telecom stocks will continue to remain in focus.

In fact, Shashank Khade, Sr Vice President (portfolio management services), Kotak Securities, feels that action could shift to capital goods stocks.

Valuations looking stretched: Khade

Garima Kumar of Lotus Knowlwealth says the rally which was triggered by better advance tax numbers now stands within striking range of the 52-week high of the Nifty.

Market Insight: Traders turn cautious

Nifty Pivot point:
Reisistance 1  5262.90
Reisistance 2  5279.90
Support     1  5221.65
Support     2  5197.40

Market Internals
Markets on Thursday rose in the last moments of trade after the S&P upgraded India to stable form negative. It ended in the green for the third consecutive day. Nifty gained 15 points while the Sensex added 35 points.

The Nifty managed to hold up above the 5250 levels after it gyrated 40 points while the Sensex swung 100 points.

Cap goods and FMCG counters were the top laggards while AIA Engg and Praj Ind dragged the Cap Goods index lower.

United Spirits was down 2% and United Breweries 1%. IT, Bankex and Metal indices gained over 0.5%.

Highlights
Infosys up 2%, Fin Tech up 2.5%, Rolta up 1%
Welspun gains 4%, SAIL, JSW Steel up over 2%
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Union Bank up 1.5% each
Infosys, RIL, ICICI Bank add 75 pts to Sensex
ONGC, M&M drag Sensex by 20 pts

Global cues

Most US stocks fell as speculation the Federal Reserve will increase its discount rate tempered gains spurred by further evidence that the economy is strengthening without stoking inflation.

Bank of America Corp. and Schlumberger Ltd. paced declines that sent financial and energy companies lower. Boeing Co., DuPont Co. and 3M Co. led gains that drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average to an almost 18-month high after reports showed growth in Philadelphia manufacturing, a drop in jobless claims and no change in consumer prices. FedEx Corp. surged as its profit more than doubled. Nike Inc. rallied on higher-than- estimated earnings.

About three stocks retreated for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% to 1,165.83 at 4:07 p.m. in New York. The Dow increased 45.5 points, or 0.4%, to 10,779.17, its highest since Oct. 1, 2008. The Dollar Index jumped 0.8% to 80.257, its biggest gain in a month.

The UK's FTSE 100 Index was little changed after the gauge yesterday rallied to a 20-month high as a sell-off in bank stocks offset a rally in GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Britain's largest drugmaker.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc lost more than 3% as the biggest government-controlled bank warned a 2.9 billion pound ($4.45 billion) pension deficit may rise. Banks also fell as Citigroup Inc. downgraded global financial shares. Glaxo jumped the most since June after Novartis AG gave up U.S. rights to a potential rival to its best-selling drug.

The FTSE 100 slid 2.01, or less than 0.1%, to 5,642.62 in London after the benchmark measure yesterday climbed to the highest level since June 2008. The FTSE All-Share Index was also little changed today and Ireland's ISEQ Index lost 0.6% in Dublin.

Asian stocks rose, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index toward a fourth weekly advance, after U.S. jobs and manufacturing reports boosted confidence in a global economic recovery.

Sony Corp., which makes Bravia televisions and the PlayStation 3 video-game system, climbed 2.2% in Tokyo. Honda Motor Co., a Japanese carmaker that gets 44% of its sales in North America, rose 1.4%. Advantech Co., an industrial-computer maker that gets a third of its sales in North America, jumped 7% in Taipei. Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, gained 3.7% in Seoul after saying it will boost production capacity in Europe.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2% to 124.58 as of 10:21 a.m. in Tokyo, with about twice as many stocks advancing as declining. Equities have rallied in the past six weeks as concerns over monetary tightening and Greece's debt receded, and as companies from Woolworths Ltd. to Nissan Motor Co. reported better-than-expected earnings.