Cut fresh trades as market lacks direction

Last week the markets witnessed a guarded optimism  due to truncated session.

The combined weekly advance-decline ratio on BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was positive as the figures were 8,059: 4,872.

Its capitalisation on a commensurate basis was also positive as the figures stood at Rs21,680 crore : Rs13,252 crore. The NSE gained Rs75,172 crore in market capitalisation on a week-on-week (w-o-w) basis.

In terms of sectoral performance, the rally was led by midcap and banking sectors, followed by the technology segment. All the turnover during the week was transacted on upthrust sessions, showing optimism in the market.

Overseas investors were net buyers at Rs1,666.9 crore, which  saw the rupee close at the 51.11 levels vis-a-vis the US dollar (previous week 50.87).

Among the US headline indices, the old-economy Dow Jones Industrial Average eased more than the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite.

The UK FTSE100 declined in line with the US indices. In Asia, the fall was led by the Japanese and Singapore markets whereas the Hong Kong and Japanese markets rallied.

Overseas cues are mixed and the domestic markets will need ample positive triggers to rally from here.

Technically, the domestic markets have seen the bulls attempting to pull markets higher, but the short week hampered that.
The weekly range predicted for the Nifty between 5450 and 5000 levels has held as the benchmark trended within them.

This week is likely to witness a range of 5500 on the upside as long as the Nifty stays above the bullish pivot at the 5350 mark.

In case of declines, the Nifty is likely to test 5200 as long as bears keep it below 5300 levels.

Traders are advised to cut exposure on fresh trades due to lack of direction in the markets in the near term.