AFTER HOLDING ON TO 8715 SUPPORT, NIFTY SET TO RETEST 8825 HURDLE

AFTER HOLDING ON TO 8715 SUPPORT, NIFTY SET TO RETEST 8825 HURDLE

WORLD MARKETS                             

Dow gained 0.4% while S & P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.1% to break seven-day winning streak.

Economic data was strong. Weekly jobless claims held around their lowest levels in more than 40 years and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index hit its highest level since January 1984.

U.S. Treasuries rose with the benchmark 10-year yield falling to 2.45% and the short-term two-year note yield holding around 1.21%. Dollar index fell 0.7%.

US crude rose 25 cents to $53.36 a barrel.

European markets, except a 0.2% higher Italy, fell 0.3%-0.5%. Minutes from January's European Central Bank meeting showed that policymakers think that it's too early to withdraw any monetary stimulus. Car registrations in Europe rose 10.2% y-o-y in January, accelerating from a 3% rise in December. In France, unemployment rate dropped to 10% at the end of last year.

AT HOME

After a flattish start, Sensex and Nifty saw a sustained northward move through the session to end with gains of 0.5% and 0.6% respectively. Sensex added 146 points to settle at 28301 while Nifty finished at 8778, up 53 points. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 1.2% and 1.3% respectively. Except a 0.9% lower FMCG index, all the BSE sectoral indices ended higher with Healthcare and Realty indices leading the tally, up 2.5% and 2.1% respectively.

FIIs net bought stocks, index futures and stock futures worth Rs 226 cr, 103 cr and 56 cr respectively. DIIs were net buyrs to the tune of Rs 249 crr.

Rupee depreciated 17 paise to end at 67.07/$.

BHEL and Idea will be replaced by Indiabulls Housing Finance and IOC in Nifty from March 31.

RBI yesterday notified that the aggregate foreign shareholding in HDFC Bank has gone below the prescribed limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy. This means that foreign investors can buy more shares in HDFC Bank.

OUTLOOK

Today morning Asian markets are trading with cuts of upto half a percent but SGX Nifty is suggesting about 30 points higher start for our market.

Nifty, after retesting the 8715 level, which has been the bottom in the last 9-day 8825-8715 consolidation phased, rebounded yesterday to end at 8778 and is set to open higher today.

After today's positive start, benchmark would be close to the higher end of this consolidation phase placed at 8825, upon decisive crossover of which, 8970, the top made in September 2016, would be the next major target to eye.

Traders should keep stop-loss of 8825 in short positions.