Bulls’ worst fears coming true, Jupiter loses grip

Stocks tumbled last week as poor earnings and renewed euro zone fears weighed on sentiment. The Sensex declined by more than 2% closing at 17094 while the Nifty finished the week at 5207.

This bearish outcome was largely in keeping with expectations as the Mars-Neptune aspect intensified through the week. Both of these planets tend to be negative, and when they combine in a hard opposition aspect, it increases the likelihood of declines.

I had noted the possibility of some upside on Tuesday’s Moon-Venus aspect and we saw a small bounce after Monday’s sell-off. Friday’s decline correlated closely with the growing influence of malefic Mars ahead of its direct station on Saturday.

Talk is cheap, especially when the southern tier of the EU is now caught in a recessionary downward spiral. Spain has the potential to wreak even more financial havoc because it is much larger than Greece.

Without a prominent Jupiter in the picture to calm fears, the cracks in the liquidity-driven rally are becoming more evident with each passing week. The problem for bulls is that Jupiter is not likely to be a factor until May.  This suggests that any rebound rally is less likely to begin soon.

The good news is that Mars has completed its retrograde cycle on Saturday, April 14.  With Mars now returning to its normal direct motion, there is a possibility that some of the bearish energy may diminish. Whether or not this translates into significantly higher prices in the near term is less certain, however. While Mars is now moving forward, it is still in a difficult aspect with Neptune and Rahu.

That means that the market will likely remain vulnerable to further declines this week. Monday’s Sun-Saturn opposition aspect is likely to correlate with fear and anxiety, especially regarding debt and the possibility of another recession.

We could see some positive sentiment return around the mid-week triple conjunction of the Moon, Mercury and Uranus. This should be enough to offset the Mars-Rahu influence on perhaps Wednesday or Thursday. But the end of the week features a tense-looking Mercury-Mars aspect that may well correlate with more selling.

Crude oil ended mostly flat last week as prospects for reduced demand were largely offset by inflation fears as the ECB prepared itself for another bailout of Spain. WTI crude finished the week near $103. I thought we might have seen a little more early week upside on the Moon-Venus conjunction, so this neutral outcome was somewhat underwhelming.

Crude is likely to fall with Monday’s Sun-Saturn aspect, but some mid-week rebound looks quite likely as the triple conjunction occurs in watery Pisces. The exact Moon-Mercury conjunction occurs on Wednesday afternoon while the Moon remains in bullish Pisces on Thursday. Friday’s New Moon opposite Saturn looks more problematic.

Gold reversed higher last week, fuelled in part by the prospect of more inflationary central bank bailouts. It rose about 1%, finishing near $1,650. I thought we might have seen the gains arrive earlier in the week although it was noteworthy that the bounce occurred after Venus had separated from its conjunction with bearish Ketu.

Gold looks like it will come under pressure again this week as Monday’s Sun-Saturn aspect could inflict some significant damage. Mid-week bounce is possible on the Moon-Mercury conjunction, but the week looks weak.

The writer is a neo-Vedicastrologer specialising inpredictive astrology.