Market Strategy: Nifty ends headless on Friday; what investors should do next week
Just the way US Fed chief Jerome Powell’s hard talk at the Jackson Hole meeting dictated the market this week, Friday’s US jobs data may sway the mood of the market on Monday as investors hunt for cues on how aggressively the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates.
Ahead of the release of the data, the Indian equity market ended directionless, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase after posting a steep rally from 15,200 to 18,000 levels.
Besides the US jobs data, crude oil prices, FII flows and the movement of the US dollar index would be the key triggers. Technical analysts say the crucial support for Nifty50 is 17,300 while resistance is at 17,800.
Here’s what experts say:
Mehul Kothari – AVP – Technical Research, Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers
The prudent strategy is to avoid fresh longs in the index and book profits in trading bets. On the downside, 17,350 might be a crucial support for the coming weeks. A breach of this support might drag the index towards 17,000 – 16,800 levels. On the upside, 17,750-18,000 might be a supply zone for the coming weeks. We would turn aggressively bullish only on a close above the 18,000 mark.
Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Broking
Markets may consolidate further amid feeble global sentiment. However, a mixed trend across sectors is offering ample trading opportunities. The buoyancy in the banking and financial pack is playing a critical role so far and we expect this outperformance to continue ahead as well. Meanwhile, we suggest focusing more on stock selection and utilising dips to add quality stocks.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research,
While markets in the near term may remain volatile in a broader range, we are positive on the mid to long-term perspective on the back of healthy domestic macros, strong fundamentals, earnings growth and upbeat festive season. The broader market has been outperforming well and is likely to remain in flavour with action in niche midcap sectors.
Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President – Technical Research, Kotak Securities
For traders now, the 20-day SMA (Simple Moving Average) and 17,450 would be the important support zone, while 17,700 could act as a major hurdle for the market. We are of the view that directional upside move is possible only after a breakout above 17,700 after which, the index could move up to 17,900-18,000. On the flip side, below 17,450 the index could retest the level of 17,250-17,150.
Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst,
Securities
The market is now placed within a broader high low range of 17,800-17,300 levels and the movement within this range is likely to continue for next week. One may expect selling pressure building from the highs around 17,800 levels and the buying is likely to emerge from the lows of 17,300 levels. Hence, the market action could be a buy on dips and sell on rise opportunity for near term.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
