NIFTY RETREATS FROM 11700 HURDLE; 11480 IS THE NEXT SUPPORT

NIFTY RETREATS FROM 11700 HURDLE; 11480 IS THE NEXT SUPPORT

WORLD MARKETS

Dow fell 0.3% while S & P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.

Boeing dropped more than 4% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its rating on the company to neutral from buy. GE fell more than 5% after J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock.

Factory orders for February fell 0.5% amid weakness in the machinery, transportation equipment and electronic products segments. Shipments, however, rose 0.4%. Treasury yields climbed on the data. The 10-year rate rose to around 2.51% while the 30-year yield traded at 2.926%.

Brent crude rose 69 cents or 1% to $71.03 a barrel and WTI gained 2.1% to $64.40 amid a recent resurgence in conflict in Libya, a key oil producer in the OPEC.

European markets ended mixed with modest changes. Germany's exports dipped 1.3% month-on-month in February, while imports dropped 1.6%.

AT HOME

After gaining about four tenth of a percent at the open, benchmark indices tumbled nearly a percent from the top of the day to end lower by about half a percent. Sensex settled at 38700, down 161 points while Nifty lost 61 points to finish at 11604. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell 0.7% and 0.4% respectively. BSE Realty and Energy indices tumbled 2.3% and 1.7% respectively, becoming top losers among the sectoral indices while IT and Teck indices were the top gainers, up 1% and 0.8% respectively.

FIIs net bought stocks worth Rs 330 cr but net sold index futures and stock futures worth Rs 865 cr and 1039 cr respectively. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 624 cr.

Rupee depreciated 45 paise to end at 69.67/$.

OUTLOOK

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

In yesterday's report we had said that "11700, the 67% retracement level of the recent 11761-11559 fall, continues to be immediate hurdle, a crossover of which is required for a fresh upmove".

Nifty, after touching a high of 11710 in the initial trade, plunged sharply to 11549 before closing at 11604 and is set to open marginally higher today.

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.

11480 and 11460, the 61.8% and 67% retracement levels of the recent 11311-11761 upmove, are the support levels to eye.