9160 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

9160 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

WORLD MARKETS                             

US indices ended marginally lower, digesting a mixed employment report, a U.S. airstrike in Syria and comments from a top Federal Reserve official.

Reacting to US missile strike in Syria, Russia said the missile strike was "thoughtless" and called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Moscow also suspended a Syrian air cooperation agreement with Washington, which was put into place to avoid accidental conflict between the two nations' warplanes.

New York Fed President William Dudley said the U.S. should consider small adjustments to the Dodd-Frank law, which toughened oversight for financial institutions. He also said there might only be a slight pause in the Fed's plan to normalize rates if the central bank starts unwinding its massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet.

U.S. economy added 98,000 jobs last month, well below the expected gain of 180,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.5% from 4.7%. Wage growth was not as strong either, with average hourly earnings up by 2.7% on an annualized basis.

Treasury yields slipped after the jobs report with the 10-year note yield briefly dipping below 2.3% to hit its lowest level since late November.

Dollar index rose about half a percent to 101.13.

European markets, except a marginally lower DAX, gained upto 0.6%.

For the week, Dow ended flat but S & P 500 and Nasdaq lost 0.3% and 0.6% respectively. In Europe, FTSE and CAC gained 0.4% and 0.2% respectively but Dax fell 0.7%. In Asia Nikkei was down 1.3% but Shanghai and Hang Seng added 2% and 0.6% respectively.

President Donald Trump pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to curb North Korea's nuclear program and help reduce the gaping U.S. trade deficit with Beijing in talks on Friday, even as he toned down the strident anti-China rhetoric of his election campaign.

AT HOME

After a lower start, benchmark indices traded in a narrow range for better part of the day, but witnessed a fresh bout of selling in last hour or so to end lower by seven tenth of a percent, extending the losing streak to second day. Sensex lost 221 points to settle at 29707 while Nifty finished at 9198, down 64 points. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell 0.3% and 0.5% respectively. BSE Healthcare index tumbled 1.4%, becoming top loser among the sectoral indices, followed by 1.2% cut in Metal and Realty indices. Telecom and Oil & Gas indices gained 0.8% and 0.5% respectively.

FIIs net sold stocks and index futures worth Rs 262 cr and 509 cr respectively but net bought stock futures worth Rs 564 cr. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 415 cr.

Rupee appreciated 32 paise to end at fresh 20-month high of 64.4075/$.

For the week, Sensex and Nifty gained 0.3% each.

OUTLOOK

Today morning except a 0.6% higher Nikkei, other Asian markets are trading with modest cuts and SGX Nifty is suggesting about 15 points higher start for our market.

For past couple of sessions we have been mentioning that 9180-9160 is the immediate support area, with the stop-loss of which trading longs should be held on to.

The benchmark, after touching a low of 9188, closed at 9198 on Friday and is set to open higher today.

9160 continues to be immediate support, with the stop-loss of which trading longs can be held on to. 9274, the top made last week, is the immediate hurdle, above which 9400 would be the next target to eye.