YET ANOTHER DAY OF CONSOLIDATION; HOLD LONGS WITH STOP-LOSS OF 8700

YET ANOTHER DAY OF CONSOLIDATION; HOLD LONGS WITH STOP-LOSS OF 8700

WORLD MARKETS                             

Dow climbed 0.7% while S & P 500 and Nasdaq added 0.5% each yesterday to new record highs on persistent optimism over Trump's economic agenda.

Dollar index gained 0.2% to a three-week high. U.S. Treasuries fell, with the benchmark 10-year note yield rising to 2.431% and the short-term two-year note yield advancing to 1.19%.

Copper prices hit its highest levels since May 2015 on limited supply after strikes at BHP Billiton's Escondida and Freeport McMoran's Indonesian Grasberg mine,

Crude fell on the stronger dollar and indications of rising U.S. shale output with Brent down 2% to $55.59 a barrel and WTI down 1.7% to $52.93.

European markets gained 0.3%-1.2%. Forecast from European Commission expects Eurozone to grow at 1.6% in 2017,  compared to 1.7% in 2016 but bounce back to 1.8% in 2018.

AT HOME

After falling nearly half a percent in the first half, benchmark indices recouped all the losses and some more later to end marginally higher. Sensex settled at 28352, up 17 points while Nifty added 11 points to finish at 8805.  BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices however lost 0.4% and 0.6% respectively. BSE IT and Teck indices added 0.9% and 0.7% respectively, becoming top gainers among the sectoral indices while Realty and Consumer Durable indices were the top losers, down 1.1% and 1% respectively.

FIIs net bought stocks and index futures worth Rs 307 cr and 754 cr respectively but net sold stock futures worth Rs 393 cr. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 171 cr.

Rupee depreciated 14 paise to end at 67.02/$.

India’s retail inflation rate slowed to 3.17% in January, from 3.41% in December -- the lowest reading since November, 2014.

Hindalco reported standalone net profit of Rs 321 cr against loss of Rs 32 crore in year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 13.8% to Rs 9915 cr. Operating profit shot up 75.5% to Rs 1185 cr and margin expanded by 420 bps to 11.9%.

OUTLOOK

China's January CPI has come in at 2.5%., slightly higher tha expected 2.4% mark and PPI has come in at 6.9% as against expectation of 6.3%.

Today morning Asian markets are trading with modest cuts and SGX Nifty is suggesting about 15 points higher start for our market.

Nifty, after a roller coaster session, ended 11 points higher at 8805 yesterday and is set to open higher today, moving towards the major target area of 8900-8970 that we have been working with ever since 8560, the 61.8% retracement level of the entire 8970-7894 fall, was taken out.

Immediate support on the hourly chart is placed around 8700, with the stop-loss of which trading longs should be held on to.

Tata Motors and Sun Pharma will report their quarterly earnings today.