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Market Ahead, January 16: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

The United States and China finally signed a deal that will roll back some tariffs and see China boost purchases of US goods and services by $200 billion over two years. The deal should help defuse their 18-month trade war, which has weighed on global economic growth and hampered investments. As a result, global stocks surged and the domestic indices should follow the positive bias in today’s session.

However, exports contracting for the fifth straight month in December might dent sentiment. According to data released yesterday, the decline in exports stood at 1.8 per cent in December, higher than the 0.3 per cent fall in November.

Meanwhile, the December quarter results continue to pour in. Investors will first react to the numbers of Sterlite Technologies which announced reported a 38 per cent year-on-year fall in net profit at Rs 91 crore during the quarter. Today, a total of 16 companies, including Cyient Limited and Rallis India, are scheduled to announce their December quarter earnings.

Besides, stock-specific action, the Rupee’s trajectory, and oil price movement will also be on investors’ radar. Market participants will also digest any newsflow leading up to the Budget

Globally, US stocks closed at record highs after the United States and China signed a Phase 1 trade agreement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.31 per cent, ending above 29,000 for the first time. The S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.08 per cent.

In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.10 per cent in Thursday’s early trade. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.14 per cent while Australian shares were 0.6 per cent higher. SGX Nifty indicated a flat start for domestic indices.

In commodities, oil prices edged back after touching a six-week trough the previous day on data showing big increases in US refined products.

Back home, the market traded volatile and finally settled marginally lower on Wednesday. Sensex closed 80 points down at 41,873, while Nifty finished 19 points lower at 12,343.

Going forward, analysts say the market is likely to trade in the range of 12,250 to 12,400. Therefore, traders should try to buy at any dip while keeping a close eye on 12,300 as it holds highest put open interest for the weekly expiry. However, if Nifty is able to breach 12,380, it will lead to short covering move up to 12,460.

And, in the end, here’s a stock idea by Religare Broking who recommend buying Berger Paints around Rs 525-530 for the target of Rs 550 with stop-loss at Rs 520

Source: Maalaimalar