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ShareMumbai: Stocks in Mumbai slipped 3% last week as investors booked profits on earnings news against a backdrop of inflation concerns.
The Nifty once again retreated below 5000 as it closed Friday at 4997 while the Sensex finished the week at 16,810.
This result was a little more bearish than expected, as Tuesday's decline set the tone for the week. In last week's column, I had been unsure about Tuesday since there would be a mix of influences.
As it turned out, the trouble implied in the Mars-Pluto aspect won the battle against the favourable Mercury-Jupiter combination. Moreover, Mercury's move into Chitra on Wednesday seemed to nullify any upside from its Jupiter contact. Even the apparently favourable Sun-Pluto aspect on Friday did not encourage bulls sufficiently as the market only managed fractional gains.
The failure of good aspects to take the market higher last week is perhaps a sign of the waning effects of bullish planetary patterns and the growing empowerment of malefics in the sky.
This week features another potential stand-off between positive and negative aspects, both which happen to come exact on Thursday.
On the bearish side, there is a tense square aspect between two fiery malefic planets, the Sun and Mars. This combination can correspond with conflictive and irrational behaviour that might find expression in sudden waves of selling. The benefic planets of Venus of Jupiter also form a close aspect on Thursday, and that may offset some of the negativity.
All other things being equal, I would expect the bearish Sun-Mars aspect to prevail here because their velocities are more similar to each other than Venus and Jupiter and hence their influence will last longer. Monday may be prone to weakness as the Moon opposes Mars, especially in the morning. Tuesday has a reasonable chance for an up day as the Moon conjoins Jupiter, but by Wednesday, a defensive posture may be more appropriate as the Moon enters Aquarius. The end of the week also seems to generally favour the bears as Venus enters Chitra on Thursday.
In the aftermath of the Saturn-Rahu aspect and the twin ingresses of Uranus and Neptune, the market is showing continued signs of weakening. This situation seems unlikely to change as we move into November.
Uncertainty may be in the air as Rahu and Ketu change their respective signs next week and this will be closely followed by a potentially destructive aspect of Saturn and Pluto.
While there is some bullish relief promised by the approachingJupiter-Neptune conjunction several weeks hence, one wonders if we have entered a protracted period of consolidation.
Crude oil stayed strong last week closing above $80 as the US dollar continued to founder. Last week, I had suggested that some late week selling may be possible on the separation of Venus from Saturn and we did in fact see some, although it was fairly muted. Crude seems increasingly vulnerable here as Mercury and Sun come under the influence of Mars. Without a positive offsetting influence on Saturn, any gains this week may be fleeting at best.
With little changed in the dollar situation, gold managed to edge only marginally higher last week closing at $1,055. This week could be pivotal for gold as the yellow metal is subject to opposing planetary forces which may well indicate a new price trend. Venus may boost prices for a day or two, but the difficulty inherent in the Sun-Mars aspect may be less amendable to gains overall.
The writer is a neo-Vedic astrologer specialising in predictive astrology.
