8900-8970 IS THE MAJOR RESISTANCE AREA; 8750 IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

8900-8970 IS THE MAJOR RESISTANCE AREA; 8750 IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

WORLD MARKETS

Dow ended flat while S & P 500 and Nasdaq gained 0.2% and 0.4% respectively on Friday.

U.S. Treasuries rose, with the benchmark 10-year note yield falling to 2.42% and the short-term two-year note yield declining to 1.19%.

European markets, except a 0.3% higher FTSE and flat DAX, fell 0.4%-0.6%. According to recent polls, Le Pen — France's far-right, anti-European Union candidate — is the favorite to win the first round of voting, scheduled for April. French bond yields ticked higher on the news, pushing the spread between 10-year French sovereigns and German bunds above 70 basis points.

For the week, US indices gained 1.3%-1.7%. In Europe, FTSE gained 0.3% while DAX and CAC climbed 0.8% and 1.5% respectively. In Asia Nikkei was down 0.2% but Shanghai and Hang Seng soared 1% and 2.3% respectively.

AT HOME

After opening with a big gap of a percent and third, benchmark indices gave away more than half of the gains through the volatile session to end higher by about half a percent. Sensex settled at 28469, up 167 points while Nifty added 44 points to finish at 8822. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 0.5% and 0.4% respectively. BSE Healthcare and Oil & Gas indices were the top gainers among the sectoral indices, up 1.6% and 1.4% respectively while IT and Teck indices were the top losers, down 1% and 0.9% respectively.

FIIs net bought stocks worth Rs 8043 cr and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 5632 cr, most of which was on account of HDFC Bank after RBI notified that the aggregate foreign shareholding in HDFC Bank had gone below the prescribed limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy. FIIs net sold index futures and stock futures worth Rs 719 cr and 5632 cr respectively.

Rupee appreciated 6 paise to end at 67.01/$.

For the week, Sensex and Nifty gained 0.5% and 0.3% respectively, extending the winning streak to fourth straight week.

GST Council, on Saturday, approved the Draft Compensation Bill and anti-profiteering clause. The Council will now meet on March 4 and 5 to give final touches to the CGST, IGST and SGST laws.

OUTLOOK

Today morning Shanghai and Hang Seng are up about half a percent, other Asian markets are modestly lower and SGX Nifty is suggesting a flattish start for our market.

After trading in 8825-8710 range for 9 sessions, Nifty, on Friday, touched a high of 8896 in the initial trade, crossing this congestion zone, but cooled-off to end the session at 8822. Readers would recall that we have been saying that 8900-8970, where the trendline adjoining tops made in March 2015 and September 2016 is placed, is the major resistance area. A decisive crossover of 8970 is required for the fresh upmove.

Meanwhile, trendline adjoining major bottoms on the daily chart lands support around 8750, with the stop-loss of which trading longs can be held on to.

Ambuja Cements will report its quarterly earnings today.

US markets will remain shut today for Presidents Day holiday.