Column

Stocks in Mumbai advanced more than 3% last week on the positive reception for the budget and favourable global cues. Most of the rise came immediately after the budget as the Sensex ended Friday at 16994 and the Nifty at 5088.This bullish
result was very much in keeping with expectations as the early week Venus-Uranus conjunction provided the necessary lift.

I had wondered if we might see some negative energy blended into the rally but in the end the positive vibrations of Venus (= money) prevailed. The late-week period was more mixed as expected, as stocks essentially treaded water for Thursday and Friday. This upheld our expectation that Venus would lose its power to boost prices further once it had separated from energetic Uranus and began its approach to the prudent Saturn.

Saturn, the planet of restraint and pessimism, is a key factor in the planetary picture here because the market made its highs for the year just as Saturn changed direction in the middle of January as it began its 4-month long retrograde cycle. It is still moving backwards now and will continue to do so until May 30.

This does not necessarily mean that equities will stay weak until then but it should be seen as a significant drag on prices. Unless or until the market reaches new highs, the effect of retrograde Saturn should not be taken lightly.

This week looks decidedly less positive than last week as Saturn’s cautionary influence may be activated through the transit of Venus early in the week. Monday might see some residual optimism as the Moon exits Scorpio in the morning and enters Sagittarius in the afternoon. This may correspond with sudden changes in sentiment during the trading day.Tuesday will see the closest opposition of Venus to Saturn. These two planets do not blend energies well and with the Moon in conjunction with the intense Pluto, we could well see the market mood sour quickly.

Wednesday features a number of simultaneous planetary phenomena as the Sun is in aspect with the weird Ketu and malefic Mars changes direction after close of trading.This generally does not augur well for government interests (Sun) and the excessive dose of Mars’s energy could represent sudden developments and an increase in anxiety.While these appear to be negative market influences, it is still conceivable that the bulls could shake off the worst of it.

That’s because both Sun and Mercury are in the happy circumstance of being in conjunction with benefic Jupiter in Aquarius. The late-week period could be more mixed as the Moon’s opposition to Mars could make Thursday’s trading choppy at best. If the market is down earlier in the week, Friday’s Mercury-Ketu aspect might see a sudden rebound.

With the large number of aspects due to occur this week, we could gain some useful insight into the market direction for the rest of March. Saturn is the key here, since it will form aspects with several planets over the next two weeks. If the Venus-Saturn aspect produces a decline as expected, then it increases the likelihood that the other Saturn aspects will produce similar losses. If, however, the Saturn-related declines are minimal this week, then the probability for stronger prices will be boosted.
As expected, crude oil was higher last week closing a little under $82 on the futures contract. This week may be a different story as sentiment may falter on the Venus-Saturn aspect.

The Venus-Uranus conjunction also pushed gold higher as it closed around $1134. Gold looks to be quite vulnerable to declines here as the darkness of Saturn may take the beautiful Venusian shine away from bullion.
(The writer is a neo-Vedic astrologer specialising in predictive astrology. He runs the website www.modernvedicastrology.com)