Sun-Jupiter aspect makes week positive for stocks

Stocks were largely unchanged last week as dimming growth prospects were offset by Friday’s investment-friendly state election results.

While this outcome was not hugely unexpected, I thought we might have seen more in the way of price movement on the heels of the Jupiter-Rahu aspect.

As it turned out, the mid-week triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Jupiter proved to be something of a non-event for Indian markets, although it did coincide with gains in commodities and other global markets. The end of the week did see some larger price swings in the aftermath of the triple conjunction, as the market tilted slightly bearish.

So it seems we are continuing to see the fallout from the speculative excess of the Jupiter-Rahu risk trade as commodities remain weak.

This aspect will likely continue to exert some influence on the market in the weeks ahead.

This aspect threatens to unwind the larger risk trade that could be a further drag on global equities, although Indian stocks are perhaps less susceptible to declines since lower oil prices will be regarded as bullish. The fallout from this Jupiter-Rahu aspect may therefore be less negative here than in other markets. 

The other medium-term aspect worth watching is the approaching Saturn-Pluto square that makes its closest approach on June13.

If Jupiter-Rahu puts the spotlight on risk and speculation, Saturn-Pluto may shift the focus to the effects of debt and insolvency on economic prosperity. Saturn typically symbolises losses and debts while Pluto is associated with large-scale entities such as nations or corporations.

We have already seen how the Eurozone debt problem in Greece has re-emerged as a source of potential uncertainty. As Saturn and Pluto move closer to their aspect, concern over the implications of sovereign debt load is likely to grow.

This is likely to be negative for equity markets, if only because it is likely to further weaken the euro and thus send more investors into the safety of the dollar. Just how negative this will be for India’s markets is unclear, although it is unlikely to be positive.

This week could begin on a bullish note as there are a couple of alignments that look favourable. On Monday, the Sun is in aspect with Jupiter while both Mercury and Venus form a nice aspect with Neptune. Sun-Jupiter aspects tend to boost confidence overall, especially involving financial related issues.

The net effect of these patterns looks positive for stocks and it is quite possible that the momentum could extend into mid-week. Wednesday’s Mercury-Venus-Uranus pattern may also give a general boost to sentiment, although it is less certain if Indian stocks will benefit owing to a difficult pattern in the NSE horoscope. The end of the week would appear to increase the likelihood of declines as Mercury approaches its conjunction with hot-tempered Mars.

Despite a significant rally attempt into mid-week, crude oil finished mostly unchanged last week near $99. This up-and-down outcome was in keeping with expectations as I thought that the Mercury-Venus conjunction would likely boost prices at least for a short while.

The favourable planetary aspects this week are likely to see another rally attempt, perhaps most likely early in the week. Declines are perhaps more probable as we move towards Friday’s Mercury-Mars conjunction.

Gold followed a similar pattern as it rallied into the mid-week Mercury-Venus conjunction but eased off afterwards. Gold finished pretty much where it started the week near $1490. The early week Sun-Jupiter aspect is likely to provide a lift for bullion but any rally may not have a lot of staying power. The Sun enters Taurus this week where it joins bearish Ketu. This is likely to act as a drag on demand over the next few weeks.

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