8300 CONTINUES TO BE DOWNSIDE TARGET; 8560 IMMEDIATE RESISTANCE

8300 CONTINUES TO BE DOWNSIDE TARGET; 8560 IMMEDIATE RESISTANCE

WORLD MARKETS                             

US indices fell about a fifth of a percent on Friday, digesting the employment report and awaiting Presidential election. S & P 500 extended the losing streak to ninth straight day.

US economy added 161,000 jobs last month, lower than the expected figure of 175,000. The unemployment rate stood at 4.9%, in line with expectations. Average hourly earnings climbing 10 cents and reflecting a 2.8% annualized increase.

U.S. Treasuries traded higher, with the two-year note yield near 0.79 percent and the benchmark 10-year yield around 1.77 percent. The U.S. dollar index fell to 96.90 from 97.20.

US crude fell 1.3% to $44.07.

European markets lost 0.6%-1.4%.

For the week, US indices tumbled 1.5%-2.8%. Main European markets nosedived nearly 4%. In Asia, Nikkei fell 3% and Hang Seng was down 1.4%. Shanghai managed to end 0.7% higher.

AT HOME

Benchmark indices fell six tenth of a percent on Friday with Sensex and Nifty extending the losing streak to fifth and third straight day respectively and closing at the lowest level since 8th July. Sensex lost 156 points to settle at 27274 while Nifty shut shop at 8434, down 51 points. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices plunged 1.3% and 2.2% respectively. BSE Healthcare index nosedived 4.2%, becoming top loser among the sectoral indices, followed by 2.4% each cut in Realty and Metal indices.

Pharma stocks came under pressure over reports of the criminal probe carried out by the US Department of Justice that investigates price collusion charges.

FIIs net sold stocks, index futures and stock futures worth Rs 343 cr, 968 cr and 600 cr respectively. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1090 cr.

Rupee appreciated 4 paise to end at 66.70/$.

For the week, Sensex and Nifty lost 2.4% and 2.2% respectively.

PNB reported a lower-than-expected 12% dip in second quarter net profit at Rs 549 cr, impacted by higher provisions and lower NII. NII fell 10% to Rs 3880 cr. Asset quality improved as gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances dropped 12 bps to 13.63% and net NPAs declined 6 bps to 9.10% on sequential basis. Slippages were down to Rs 5,089 crore in Q2FY17 compared with Rs 7,533 crore in Q1FY17.

OUTLOOK

The FBI on Sunday said that after examining new emails related to its probe of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, the agency's view was unchanged from July, when it first said it did not find evidence to support criminal charges.

Dow futures have jumped more than 200 points and Asian markets, except a marginally lower Shanghai, are up between 0.6%-1.2% on this news. SGX Nifty is suggesting about 50 points higher start for our market.

After Nifty broke important 8500 support, we have been working with the downside target of 8300, where 34-week moving average is placed.

The benchmark touched a low of 8400 before closing at 8434 but is set to open with a positive gap today.

Immediate hurdle on the hourly chart is placed around 8560, a crossover of which is required to generate a buy on the hourly chart and hence a fresh upmove.

On the way down, 8300 continues to be major downside target to eye.

Traders are advised to trail stop-loss in short positions to 8560.

ICICI Bank and Britannia will report their quarterly earnings today.