Eclipse hints at quick trend shifts in stocks, Mars-Saturn loom

Stocks edged higher last week as end-of-year window dressing by foreign institutional investors overshadowed lingering nervousness about inflation.

In subdued pre-Christmas trading, the Sensex gained about 1% to close at 20,073 while the Nifty finished at 6011.

This bullish outcome was largely in keeping with expectations given the Mercury-Jupiter aspect that dominated the early and midweek periods.The late week was somewhat more positive than anticipated as the Venus-Saturn aspect also corresponded with a modest rise in Friday’s session.

Overall, the market appears to be following the basic script laid out by the approaching Jupiter-Uranus conjunction.  Jupiter’s bullish optimism has combined with the restless risk-taking of Uranus to push markets higher across the world over the past month or so.
Indian stocks have fared less well due to specific afflictions in the horoscopes of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

With the date of the exact conjunction set for January 4, 2011, investors may be looking at a different set of variables in the near future.

At the most basic level, the culmination of this conjunction may see a gradual erosion of confidence and risk-taking over the medium term.  As Jupiter begins to move away from Uranus in January, investment risk may well be subject to different calculations with a higher premium placed on safer asset classes.  

The other key astrological factor here concerns the role of the current eclipse period.  Not surprisingly, last week’s lunar eclipse did not move markets in a significant way. Eclipses usually do not create instability immediately but rather take a few days or sometimes even a few weeks to interrupt established patterns.

With a solar eclipse due on 4 January, the probability for sudden shifts in sentiment greatly increases with each passing week.  

The fact that this occurs on the exact same day as the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction is quite unusual and may indicate that the current assumptions about the economy may be subject to interruption and revision.

This week may see some early fallout from the lunar eclipse as Mars aspects Saturn.  The combination of these two malefic planets is usually bearish as caution is heightened along with equal doses of frustration and annoyance.  The aspect is closest on Wednesday, although we could see its effects manifest sooner, perhaps as early as Monday.

This pairing has the potential for fairly large declines, although with Jupiter still influencing the market, we will have to see just what kind of downside this produces. The late week period offers the prospect for improvement, however, as the Moon conjoins Venus.

Crude oil continued its winning ways last week as it closed above $90 for the first time since late 2008. This week looks more decidedly bearish, however, as the Mars influence on Saturn may reduce crude’s speculative appeal.

As the improving US economy increased inflation fears, gold enjoyed a very modest rise last week closing just under $1380.

This week’s Mars-Saturn aspect is likely to have investors seeking greater safety, but it is unclear if gold can benefit from that.

The most likely outcome appears to be that gold will weaken at least into midweek with some rebound by Friday.

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