Good early on, not so later; mixed week

Market likely to experience increased selling pressure as the trading week rolls

STARS & STOCKS
Christopher Kevill is a neo-Vedic astrologer specialising in predictive astrology, having learnt the science under esteemed American astrologer Richard Houck. Chris is currently completing his PhD in sociology at the University of Toronto. He will write in DNA Money  every Monday on how the stars are positioned for  the trading week ahead.

Cosmic call
Monday: Very favourable with Mercury closely aspected by benefic Jupiter and Moon
Such a configuration may generate a large gain of more than 2%
Tuesday: Difficult, as Moon comes under the troublesome aspect of Mars, particularly in late trade
Wednesday & Thursday: Little movement likely
Friday: Looks pivotal as Mercury exactly conjoins Venus in near opposition to unpredictable Uranus
This complex pattern suggests high trading volumes, wide price swings, and in all likelihood, a down market

Indian markets fell a bit short of expectations last week and closed down over 2%. The absence of a Friday trading session may have precluded an ameliorative rise in the wake of decent gains in New York on the preceding day.

While I had thought we might have had more upside, the forecast was more or less correct in calling the intra-week trends as markets fared best on Monday and then progressively lost ground the rest of the week as the Sensex closed at 14,724 and the Nifty at 4430.

This week looks mixed at best, as stocks will likely do better in the early part of week and be more subject to losses later on, especially on Friday.

On the plus side, both Mercury and Venus have moved past bearish Saturn, thus allowing more optimism to take root.

Monday looks very favourable indeed as Mercury comes under a doubly positive influence as it is closely aspected by benefic Jupiter and the Moon.
It is possible this configuration will generate a large gain of more than 2%.

If it does, then there’s a better chance we can eke out gains for the week.
Tuesday looks more difficult, however, as the Moon comes under the troublesome aspect of Mars, particularly late in the trading day.

The indications for Wednesday and Thursday are less clear and may produce days of relatively little movement.

With the Sun now in Leo, larger conglomerates with substantial government ties may be in the news and find favour, especially on Thursday.

Friday looks to be a pivotal day for the week as Mercury exactly conjoins Venus in near opposition to unpredictable Uranus.

This complex pattern suggests high trading volumes, wide price swings, and in all likelihood, a down market.

And just to acknowledge some margin of error here, there is a chance that the volatile energy from this pattern may linger or perhaps even be postponed until Monday.
Overall, though, markets may not finish far from current levels, although there is greater downside risk, particularly if next Monday is included in the equation. Regardless of any immediate declines here, we are still on track to extend the current upswing well into September as the 30-day outlook remains positive.

As the rally in the US dollar continues, sentiment remains bearish for oil as it closed slightly lower last week just below $114. While it gamely stayed above its important $110 support level, there is reason to believe it may

fall closer to that threshold early this week as Saturn, the significator for oil, loses the helpful influence of Mercury and Venus.

Crude will likely bounce back later in the week as the Sun moves closer to Saturn in Leo. If oil breaks below $110, it may only come back to $112-114 by week’s end.
Oil is likely to enjoy a temporary return to prices in the $120 range over the next 60 days, but the medium term outlook suggests further declines near $100.

Gold was the biggest casualty of the rebound in the US dollar last week as prices collapsed below $800 and closed at $792. These are clearly perilous times for bullion that threaten to undermine the long-term bull market.

The Sun’s entry into Magha nakshatra is unlikely to boost gold’s fortunes and a further early week retreat is probable, possibly as low as $760.

Some late-week bounce is expected, however, that will reduce losses for the week. While some rallies are likely over the coming weeks, there is a strong likelihood that gold will fall back to $650 by the year’s end.

Christopher Kevill runs the website www.modernvedicastrology.com.