S & P 500, NASDAQ HIT RECORD HIGH ON STRONG JOBS REPORT; NIFTY TAKES OUT 8635 HURDLE

S & P 500, NASDAQ HIT RECORD HIGH ON STRONG JOBS REPORT; NIFTY TAKES OUT 8635 HURDLE

WORLD MARKETS

                                                             

US indices soared 0.9%-1.1% on Friday with the S & P 500 and Nasdaq closing at record high following a stronger-than-expected jobs report.

The U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs in July, well above the expected 180,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9%. Average workweek hours, hourly earnings and participation rate too came in better-than-expected. June figure was revised to 292000 from 287000.

Nymex oill eased 0.3% to $41.80 a barrel. Weekly rig count data from Baker Hughes showed addition of seven rigs in the U.S.

Dollar index rose to 96.52 before easing to 96.24, the previous close being 95.80. Gold fell $23 to $1344 an ounce.

European markets climbed 0.8%-2.4%.

For the week, US indices gained between 0.4%-1.1%. In Europe, FTSE and DAX gained 1% and 0.3% respectively but CAC fell 0.7%. Asia too was mixed with Nikkei down 1.9%, Shanghai off 0.1% while Hang Seng up 1.2%.

AT HOME

Bulls had a last laugh at the end of the week as benchmark indices soared nearly a percent and half on Friday with Nifty closing at fresh 2016 high. Sensex soared 364 points to settle at 28078 while Nifty finished at 8683, up 132 points. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 1.7% and 1.5% respectively. Except a 0.1% lower IT index all the Nifty sectoral indices ended higher with Auto and Metal indices on top, up 3.2% and 2.7% respectively.

FIIs net bought stocks and index futures worth Rs 436 cr and 481 cr respectively but net sold stock futures worth Rs 15 cr. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 616 cr.

Rupee appreciated 14 paise to end at 66.77/$.

For the week Sensex and Nifty gained 0.1% and 0.5% respectively.

Cognizant, on Friday, cut its full-year revenue growth forecast sharply to 8.5-9.5%, implying the slowest pace since 1996. This is the second straight downward revision by the company, which at the start of the year guided for between 10% and 14% growth.

OUTLOOK

Today morning Asian markets, except a modestly lower Shanghai, are trading with gains of 0.5%-2% with Nikkei on the top and SGX Nifty is suggesting about 40 points higher start for our market.

Nifty on Friday soared 132 points to end at 8683, crossing the immediate hurdle of 8635 and generating a buy on the hourly chart.

8711, the top made on 1st August is the immediate target to eye on the way up above which 8845, the top made in April 2015, would be the next target to eye.

Immediate support on the hourly chart is placed at 8610, with the stop-loss of which long positions should be held on to.

Hero MotoCorp and Idea will report their quarterly earnings today.