17972 IS IMMEDIATE HURDLE; 17300-17200 IMPORTANT SUPPORT AREA

 

17972 IS IMMEDIATE HURDLE; 17300-17200 IMPORTANT SUPPORT AREA

 

WORLD MARKETS

 

Dow, dragged lower by Merck shares, fell 0.1% but S & P 500 and Nasdaq, on the back of technology rally led by Meta, surged 1.5% and 3.2% respectively.

 

Meta surged 23% for its best day since 2013 after reporting a fourth-quarter beat on revenue and announcing a $40 billion stock buyback.

 

Weekly jobless claims stood at 183,000, lower than the expected print of 195,000. Factory orders rose 1.8%, lower than the 2% estimate.

 

US 10-year treasury yield fell 3 bps to 3.395%. Dollar index rose 0.6% to 101.739. Gold dipped 1.9% to $1912 per ounce.

 

Brent crude futures settled 1.04% lower at at $81.98 a barrel and WTI settled at $75.77 a barrel, down 0.84%.

 

European markets gained 0.8%-2.2%. Bank of England announced hiked interest rates by 50 basis points, as widely expected. ECB too hiked rate by 50 bps.

 

AT HOME

 

Sensex ended 0.4% higher while Nifty ended marginally in the red after a choppy session. Sensex settled at 59932, up 224 points while Nifty ended 6 point lower at 17610. Nifty mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 0.2% and 0.6% respectively. Nifty Metal and Oil & Gas indices tumbled 4.4% and 2% respectively, becoming top losers among the sectors indices while FMCG and IT indices climbed 2.3% and 1.8% respectively, becoming top gainer.

 

FIIs net sold stocks, index futures and stock futures worth Rs 3065 cr, 2464 cr and 323 cr respectively. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2371 cr.

 

Rupee depreciated 25 paise to end at 82.17/$.

 

OUTLOOK

 

Today morning, Nikkei is up 0.7% but Hang Seng and Shanghai are down 1.3% and 0.7% respectively. SGX Nifty is suggesting a marginally higher start for our market.

 

In yesterday's report we had said that 17972, the top made budget day, was the important immediate hurdle, while 17300-17200 continued to be important support area.

 

Nifty, after touching a low of 17445, rebounded to end at 17610.

 

17972, the top made on the budget day, around which 34-DMA is also placed, continues to be important immediate hurdle, a crossover of which is required for a fresh upmove. On the way down, 17300-17200 continues to be important support area, as 17300 is where 200-DMA is placed while 17200 is the 78.6% retracement level of the 16747-18887 upmove.

 

For Banknifty, 39500-39400 is immediate support zone, below which, 200-DMA, placed around 38800, would be next downside level to eye; 42015, the top made on the budget day, is the immediate hurdle.

 

SBI, ITC and Divi's Lab will report their quarterly earnings today.