10583 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT; 10825 IMMEDIATE HURDLE

10583 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT; 10825 IMMEDIATE HURDLE

WORLD MARKETS

US markets were shut yesterday for the President's Day holiday.

Brent crude fell 17 cents to $66.08 a barrel while WTI rose 30 cents to $55.89.

European markets ended mixed with modest changes.

The Chinese government yesterday said that the U.S. is attempting to curtail its technology development by claiming that Chinese mobile network gear might pose a cybersecurity threat to foreign countries which adopt the equipment.

Also, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei told the BBC that the arrest of his daughter and chief financial officer of the company, Meng Wanzhou, was a "politically motivated act."

AT HOME

After gaining about a third of a percent at the open, benchmark indices tumbled a percent from the top of the day to end lower by eight tenth of a percent, with Sensex and Nifty extending the losing streak to eighth and seventh consecutive day respectively. Sensex lost 310 points to settle at 35498 while Nifty finished at 10640, down 83 points. Sensex and Nifty closed at the lowest level since 24th December and 11th December respectively, marking a 2-month low. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell 1% each. Except 0.9% and 0.6% higher Telecom and Realty indices respectively, all the BSE sectoral indices ended in red with Consumer Durable, Energy and FMCG indices leading the losses, down 1.4% each.

FIIs net sold stocks, index futures and stock futures worth Rs 1240 cr, 434 cr and 71 cr respectively. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2337 cr.

Rupee depreciated 12 paise to end at 71.34/$.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Asian markets are trading flat to modestly higher and SGX Nifty is suggesting a modestly higher start for our market.

Readers would recall that after Nifty achieved 10855-10833 and 10700 targets, we had given 10583 as next downside target.

Nifty touched a low of 10620 on Friday before rebounding to close at 10724 but slipped yesterday to end at 10640.

10583, the bottom made in January, continues to be important immediate support to eye. If that breaks, next support will come at 10333, which was the bottom made in December.

10825 continues to be immediate hurdle on the hourly chart, a crossover of which is required to take a short-term positive view.