NIFTY ENDS AT 3-WEEK HIGH WHILE RUPEE TUMBLES TO 26-WEEK LOW

NIFTY ENDS AT 3-WEEK HIGH WHILE RUPEE TUMBLES TO 26-WEEK LOW

WORLD MARKETS                             

Dow ended marginally lower while S & P 500 and Nasdaq ended with modest gains on short, light volume Friday session.

Oil tumbled $1.33, or 3.1%, to $41.71 a barrel as the dollar index, which hit a fresh eight-month high, added additional pressure to an oversupplied market. Gold fell 1.2% to $1058 an ounce, its lowest level in nearly six years.

European markets lost upto 0.3% after sharp falls in China's stock markets weighed on sentiment, but losses were muted as the European Central Bank's (ECB) upcoming policy meeting remained in focus. ECB is expected to announce further monetary stimulus measure and possibly cut the bank deposit rate further.

Earlier Shanghai Composite plunged 5.5% after news the China Securities Regulatory Commission launched investigations into local brokerages to crack down on short selling and speculation. Also, profits earned by Chinese industrial companies fell 4.6% in October from a year earlier

For the week Dow lost 0.1%, S & P 500 ended flat while Nasdaq gained 0.4%. European markets gained 0.2%-2% with Italy and Germany leading the tally.

AT HOME

Benchmark indices gained about seven tenth of a percent after a choppy trade to close at the highest level after 6th November. Sensex settled at 26128, up 170 points while Nifty put on 59 points to finish at 7943. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 0.5% and 0.3% respectively. BSE Bankex climbed 1.9%, becoming top gainer among the sectoral indices, followed by 1.5% each rise in Capital Goods and Finance indices.

FIIs net sold stocks worth Rs -519 cr but net bought index futures and stock futures worth Rs 302 cr and 349 cr respectively. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 900 cr.

Rupee tumbled 20 paise to end at 66.76/$

For the week, Sensex and Nifty gained 1% and 1.1% respectively, extending the winning streak to second straight week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Mammohan Singh on Friday to end the deadlock over GST. Reports later suggested that the government has indicated that it may agree to the 18% limit on GST and waiver of 1% levy for manufacturing states. However, the government is unlikely to accept a demand by the Congress to change the composition and state quota in the GST council.

OUTLOOK

Today morning Asian markets are trading mixed and SGX Nifty is suggesting about 20 points lower opening for our market.

Ever since Nifty broke the immediate hurdle of 7860 on 20th November, we have been working with the target of 34-DMA, which is now placed at 8030. The benchmark has since then moved up and touched a high of 7959 on Friday before closing at 7943.

While 8030 continues to be upside target as well as the important hurdle to eye, 7950, the 38.2% retracement level of the recent 8336-7714 fall, is the immediate hurdle, a crossover of which is required for the further upmove.

Meanwhile, traders can trail the stop loss in trading longs to 7870, where the immediate support on the hourly chart is place.

India's Q2 GDP data will be released today and is expected to show a reading of 7.5% as against 7% in the first quarter and 8.4% in the same quarter last year. GVA is expected to show a reading of 7.5% as against 7.1% in the first quarter.