Although the undertone was positive, the marginal gain shown by the sensex is a reflection of the consfussion over next few day's trend. Looking at the current position of oscillators and averages, the sensex should at least remain firm, if not go up on Wednesday. This mainly due to the fact that most of the index-based stocks like Reliance, SBI and HLL have failed to show any major strength.

Whatever gains the sensex has shown was mainly contributed by cement stocks. Had ACC, Gujarat Ambuja, ICICI and Larsen & Toubro not shown any rise, the sensex would have lost some points. The outlook for these stocks continues to be positive. However, among the majorcontributor to the sensex, while ITC and HLL are comparatively better, other heavy-weight stocks like Reliance and SBI lack strength.

However, for traders looking out for short-term profits, enough opportunity exists, especially in non-index based stocks. On Wednesday, the cement shares are expected to continue their uptrend. In the cement sector ACC, Gujarat Ambuja and L&T appear good, while Madras Cement looks positive in the group of non-index based stocks. Other stocks where traders should remain positive are Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Century, CRISIL, Dabur, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, ICICI, Nagarjuna Fert, Raymonds, Nestle, Parke Davis and SPIC. Stocks like LML, BSES and ITC are expected to witness profit-booking. Other counters where profit-booking can be considered are SmithKline Beecham, BPL and Essel Packagings.