10985 ABOVE 10890; 10733 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

10985 ABOVE 10890; 10733 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

WORLD MARKETS

Dow and S & P 500 gained 0.4% each while Nasdaq climbed 0.9%, extending the winning streak to fourth straight day, as minutes of the latest Fed meeting reiterated comments from the central bank's chairman from last week about patience regarding monetary policy.

Equities pared gains in the last hour of trading after Trump termed meeting with   Democratic leadership over the shutdown "a total waste of time". Meanwhile, ratings agency Fitch warned it may cut the U.S.' triple-A rating if the shutdown continues.

The Fed minutes pointed to a backdrop of low inflation in the U.S. and also indicated that some Fed officials think a "relatively limited amount" of rate hikes may be coming.

Discussions over trade between mid-level officials from Washington and Beijing concluded on yesterday. U.S. trade officials said in a statement they will report back to the White House for further guidance on the talks.

US crude surged 5.2% to $52.36 a barrel and Brent rose 4.3% to $61.27 on OPEC production cuts and U.S.-China trade talks.

European markets gained 0.7%-0.9%.

AT HOME

Sensex and Nifty ended with gains of 0.6% and 0.5% respectively after an extremely volatile late noon trade, extending the winning streak to fourth straight day. Sensex settled at 36212, up 231 points while Nifty added 53 points to finish at 10855. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices however ended lower by 0.04% and 0.2% respectively. BSE FMCG index climbed 1.1%, becoming top gainer among the sectoral indices, followed by 0.7% higher Bankex and Realty index. Oil & Gas and Metal indices were the top losers, down 1.7% and 1.2% respectively.

FIIs net bought stocks and index futures worth Rs 276 cr and 461 cr respectively but net sold stock futures worth Rs 366 cr. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 440 cr.

Rupee depreciated 26 paise to end at 70.46/$, closing at the lowest level since December 17.

Indusind Bank reported better-than-expected net profit, aided by higher other income, while NII growth came in slightly lower-than-expected and asset quality deteriorated. Net profit rose 5.2% y-o-y to Rs 985 cr. NII rose 21% to RS 2288 cr. Provisions grew 157% to Rs 607 cr. Gross bad loan ratio expanded to 1.13% from 1.09% percent in the previous quarter. Net bad loan ratio, too, expanded to 0.59% from 0.48%.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Nikkei is down a percent and half while Hang Seng and Shanghai are off 0.7% and 0.1% respectively. SGX Nifty is suggesting about 20 points higher start for our market.

For past couple of sessions, we have been mentioning that, 10890, where a downward sloping trendline adjoining recent tops is placed, is the immediate hurdle, a crossover of which is required for a fresh upmove.

Nifty, yesterday, after touching a high of 10870, plunged sharply to 10749, only to rebound equally sharply later to end at 10855. The benchmark is slated to open around yesterday's high today.

10890 continues to be immediate hurdle, upon crossover of which, 10985, the top made on 19th December, would be the next target to eye. 10733, the low made on Tuesday, continues to be immediate support.