9045 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT; 9218 IMMEDIATE HURDLE

9045 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT; 9218 IMMEDIATE HURDLE

WORLD MARKETS                             

Nasdaq ended flat while Dow and S & P 500 fell 0.04% and 0.2% yesterday.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said the central bank will likely wait until June to decide on the next rate hike. Minneapolis Fed President said he voted against a rate hike last week because he wanted to see more inflation in the U.S. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said it's OK if inflation overshoots the Fed's inflation target as the labor market tightens.

Treasuries traded higher, with the two-year note yield slipping to 1.29% and the benchmark 10-year note yield holding near 2.465%.

U.S. crude settled down 56 cents or 1.2% to $48.22 a barrel. Brent crude fell 14 cents to $51.62.

European markets, except a 0.1% higher FTSE, lost 0.3%-0.5% after the G-20 failed to agree on a joint communication that supported free and open trade.

Pound slipped against the dollar after UK Prime Minister Theresa May's office announced the country will trigger Article 50 to exit the European Union on March 29.

AT HOME

After falling about half a percent in the morning trade, benchmark indices traded in a narrow range through rest of the session and finally ended with cuts of about 0.4%. Sesex settled at 29519, down 130 points while Nifty lost 33 points to finish at 9127. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices however managed to gain 0.2% and 0.3% respectively. BSE IT and Teck indices tumbled 1.4% and 1.2% respectively, becoming top losers among the sectoral indices while Consumer Durable and Healthcare indices were the top gainers, up 1% and 0.4% respectively.

IIs net bought stocks and index futures worth Rs 57 cr and 777 cr respectively but net sold stock futures worth Rs 1280 cr. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 536 cr.

Rupee appreciated 14 paise to end at 65.43/$, hitting a fresh 16-month high.

Idea plunged 10% after company's valuation for merger with Vodafone India turned out to be lower than market expectation.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Nikkei is down about half a percent, other Asian markets are little changed and SGX Nifty is suggesting about 25 points higher start for our market.

Nifty yesterday fell 0.4% to close at 9127, digesting heady gains made last week. As mentioned in yesterday's report, immediate support on the hourly chart is placed at 9045, with the stop-loss of which trading longs should be held on to. On the upside, 9218, the top made last week, is the immediate hurdle above which 9300-9320 would be the next target area.