11700 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE HURDLE; 11480 BELOW 11550

11700 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE HURDLE; 11480 BELOW 11550

WORLD MARKETS

US indices ended flat to modestly lower ahead of the start of the earnings season.

J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are among the companies set to kick off the latest earnings season today, which is expected to be rough.

Stocks had initially rose on media reports that China agreed to open its cloud-computing sector to foreign companies in an attempt to sweeten a deal with the U.S.

US oil fell $1.03 or 1.6% to $63.58 a barrel while Brent eased 90 cents, or 1.3%, to $70.83.

In Europe, FTSE was flat while DAX and CAC rose 0.2% and 0.7% respectively after EU leaders granted the U.K. a further extension to the date of Brexit.

AT HOME

Benchmark indices ended marginally higher after a rangebound buy choppy session. Sensex settled at 38607, up 21 points while Nifty added 12 points to finish at 11596. BSE mid-cap index rose 0.1% while small-cap index ended flat. BSE Energy and Telecom indices gained 1.1% each, becoming top gainers among the sectoral indices while Metal and IT indices tumbled 1.2% and 1.1% respectively, becoming top losers.

FIIs net bought stocks and index futures worth Rs 477 cr and 28 cr respectively but net sold stock futures worth Rs 745 cr. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 17 cr.

Rupee appreciated 19 paise to end at 68.92/$.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Nikkei is up 0.4% while Hang Seng and Shanghai are little changed. SGX Nifty is suggesting about 30 points lower start for our market.

Nifty has been in a consolidation mode for past couple of session after a strong run-up, followed by a negative divergence on the daily chart. In this consolidation phase, 11700 is working as the immediate resistance while 20-DMA, placed around 11550, has worked as a support.

Yesterday, after touching a low of 11550, the benchmark rebounded to end at 11596 but is set to open near 11550 today.

11550, where 20-DMA is placed, is the immediate support to eye, below which, 11480-11460, where 61.8% and 67% retracement levels of the recent 11311-11761 upmove are placed, would be the next support zone.

11700 continues to be immediate hurdle, a crossover of which is required for a fresh upmove. If that happens, 11761, the top made last week, would be the next target to eye.

TCS and Infosys will report their quarterly earnings today.