NIFTY MOVES CLOSER TO 8715 TARGET; KEY EARNINGS IN FOCUS

NIFTY MOVES CLOSER TO 8715 TARGET; KEY EARNINGS IN FOCUS

WORLD MARKETS                             

Dow ended 0.1% lower while S & P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.2% and 0.3% yesterday amidst decline in oil and gains in technology stocks like Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

Facebook gained more than a percent at a record after reporting earnings that beat on both the top and bottom line. Ford punged 8% after the firm posted quarterly earnings that missed expectations and said its full-year earnings forecast was at risk with U.S. auto sales expected to fall in the second half.

In economic news, weekly jobless claims rose to 266,000. The U.S. advance June goods trade deficit was $63.3 billion, up from $61.1 billion in May.

US oil fell 78 cents or 1.9% at to $41.14 a barrel, correcting more than 20% from its high for the year so far.

Dollar index was off about 0.4%. Gold rose $6 to $1332 an ounce.

In Europe, FTSE and DAX fell 0.4%, CAC was off 0.6% while Italy and Spain tumbled 2% each.

AT HOME

Benchmark indices ended gained about six tenth of a percent on the expiry day of the July derivative series with Nifty and Sensex closing at the highest level since 16 April 2015 and 7th August 2015 respectively. Sensex added 184 points to settle at 28207 while Nifty finished at 8666, up 51 points. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices too gained 0.6% each. BSE Consumer Durable index soared 2.3%, becoming top gainer among the sectoral indices, followed by 1.5% rise in FMCG and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services index.

FIIs net bought stocks and index futures worth Rs 1767 cr and 81 cr respectively but net sold stock futures worth Rs 718 cr. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1074 cr.

Rupee appreciated 10 paise to end at 67.04/$.

PNB reported lower-than-expected 58% dip in net profit at Rs 306 cr. NII fell 9.8% to Rs 3699 cr. Provisions for bad loans jumped 51% to Rs 2738 cr y-o-y but fell 74% q-o-q. Gross NPA ratio increased 85 bps q-o-q to 13.75% and net NPA rose 55 bps to 9.16%.

OUTLOOK

Today morning Asian markets are trading mixed with modest changes and SGX Nifty is suggesting a marginally lower start for our market.

Just to reiterate, we have been working with initial target of 8700-8715 and next target of 8845 ever since Nifty broke out of the 9-day, 8595-8475, consolidation on Monday and had advised holding on to long positions with the stop loss of 8545 despite Tuesday's correction.

The benchmark yesterday soared 51 points to settle at 8666, closing at the highest level since April 16 2015.

8700-8715 continues to be immediate target above which 8845 would be the major target to eye. 8570 is now the immediate support, which should serve as the stop loss for trading longs.

ICICI Bank and L & T will report their quarterly earnings today.

Bank of Japan, at the end of its two day meeting today, is expected to introduce fresh stimulus measures, which could include pushing interest rates deeper into negative territory or expanding its asset-purchase program, which buys securities including Japanese government bonds and exchange-traded funds.