NIFTY RETREATS FROM THE VICINITY OF 7970 TARGET; 7840 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

NIFTY RETREATS FROM THE VICINITY OF 7970 TARGET; 7840 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

WORLD MARKETS                             

US indices ended with modest gains with the Dow closing at its highest since July 20, 2015.

Nymex oil future for May rose $1.55 or 3.8% to $42.63 a barrel for its highest close of the year so far on reports citing Iraq that OPEC and other producers would possibly meet in Russia in May to discuss an output freeze proposal. EIA's report showing decline in U.S. production and a lower-than-forecast crude inventory build of 2.1 million barrels also supported. Brent climbed 4% to $45.80 a barrel.

Existing home sales surged 5.1% to 5.33 million units in March.

US dollar index gained more than half a percent

European markets gained anywhere between 0.1%-2% with FTSE at the bottom and Spain at the top of the tally.

Earlier Shanghai Composite fell 2.3% amid reports that China's central bank may not ease as aggressively this year. Nikkei gained 0.2%.

AT HOME

Benchmark indices ended almost flat, taking breath after running hard over last couple of sessions. Sensex settled at 25844, up 28 points while Nifty was unchanged at 7915. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 0.1% and 0.6% respectively. BSE Metal index soared 3.8%, becoming top gainer among the sectoral indices, followed by 1.8% rise in Consumer Durable index. Energy and Telecom indices were the top losers, giving away 1.2% each.

FIIs net sold stocks and stock futures worth Rs 80 cr and 577 cr respectively but net bought index futures worth Rs 1328 cr. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 300 cr.

Rupee appreciated 33 paise to end at 66.22/$.

Wipro’s IT services revenue increased by 2.7% sequentially to USD 1,887.6 million in constant currency for the quarter ended March 2016, which was within company's guidance range of USD 1,875-1,912 million. In dollar terms, the same rose 2.4% to USD 1,882 million. In rupee terms revenue rose 6.1% to Rs 13742 cr while consolidated net profit was nearly flat at Rs 2235 cr. The company expects Q1FY17 dollar revenue from its IT services business to be in the range of USD 1,901 million to USD 1,939 million, a growth of 1-3% over Q4FY16. However stripped-off the recent acquisitions, this implies a flat to negative growth guidance.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, except a half a percent lower Shanghai, other Asian markets are trading with gains of 0.5%-2% with Nikkei leading the tally. SGX Nifty is suggesting about 25 points higher opening for our market.

Readers would recall that we have been working with targets of 7870 followed by 7970 ever since 7770 hurdle was taken out. Yesterday, after touching a high of 7950, Nifty retreated to close at 7915.

7970-7980, where previous two tops made in December 2015 and January 2016 are placed, continue to be the hurdle area. A decisive crossover of which would pave the way for the further upside till about 8150, where 20-month moving average is placed.

Meanwhile 7840 continue to be immediate support on the hourly chart, with the stop loss of which trading longs can be held on to.

Indusind Bank will report its quarterly earnings today.