Planetary trio to bring gains in latter half of the week

Stocks moved higher last week as low valuations enticed more FII money into the market. Despite some late-week selling, the Sensex gained almost 1% closing at 18,376 while the Nifty finished at 5,516.

This bullish outcome was unexpected, as I thought we might see sellers prevail, especially ahead of the mid-week Sun-Saturn aspect. As it happened, however, stocks rose leading up to the aspect and then lost ground in the second half of the week. Wednesday’s Sun-Saturn aspect also coincided with a solar eclipse which proved to be a pivotal point for most global markets as the mood suddenly shifted from bullish to bearish. 

Last week’s disappointing employment data out of the US has again put investors on alert as the global recovery looks more fragile more ever. Even after the Fed’s QE1 and QE2 stimulus programmes, the US economy still looks sluggish. While the anaemic jobs numbers may have renewed talk of QE3, it is unclear if it will happen given the obvious inflationary implications of such a move. All this talk of flagging growth and a stalled recovery appears to reflect the continued strength of the planet Saturn in recent weeks. I have suggested that as long as Saturn stays strong ahead of its direct station on June 13, we will tend to see pessimism outweigh optimism, at least at a global level. Of course, Jupiter has the potential to offset this negativity but at this point, it does not seem to be up to the task. Once it begins a series of aspects this week, however, we can see to what extent it can boost the mood of the market. My sense is that it isn’t yet strong enough to forcefully overpower the influence of bearish Saturn.

This week we will get a first look at some of that potentially bullish Jupiter energy as Jupiter moves into aspect with Neptune. This pairing is usually bullish, although I would note that the probability may be somewhat reduced due to Neptune’s reversal to retrograde motion last week. The aspect will be closest towards the end of the week when it will be joined with an aspect from bullish Venus. This trio of planets therefore increases the chances of gains in the second half of the week. Before that, Saturn will again be in focus through its aspect with Mercury. While we saw stocks rise last week on the Sun’s aspect with Saturn, that outcome was somewhat anomalous. As with all Saturn aspects, this week’s Mercury-Saturn aspect should be regarded with considerable caution as bullish outcomes tend to be the exception.

Crude oil experienced a modest decline last week although prices stayed near the $100 level. I thought we could see a deeper pullback around the Sun-Saturn aspect but Tuesday’s spike largely offset much of the subsequent pullback. This week’s Jupiter-Neptune aspect increases the likelihood of gains here especially as Venus joins the alignment later in the week. 

As investors sold the US dollar last week, gold moved slightly higher closing above $1540. This bullish move was unexpected given the mid-week Sun-Saturn aspect. Gold appears to be shrugging off most short-term planetary afflictions here as it asserts itself as a safe haven in an uncertain currency environment. There is a good chance that we will see further gains this week as Venus enters the luxurious sign of Taurus.

 The writer is a neo-Vedic astrologer specialising in predictive astrology. He runs the website www.modernvedicastrology.com