With the completion of the first quarter results season last week and in the absence of any major trigger on the home front, domestic markets are expected to look West and at their Asian counterparts for direction next week.
Dealers, however, said the crude oil prices and inflation that weighed on the market till recently, will continue to determine the market direction for some more time now. However, the biggest event of the week is the US Fed?s crucial meeting on Tuesday.
A dealer said, while there were reports in the US media that the US Fed is meeting on Tuesday, it is not expected to take any action on interest rates and the meeting is expected to be uneventful. However, the Fed?s post-meeting statement will decide the US market?s future course of action, he added.
On Friday, the 30-share DJIA of NYSE ended marginally lower and was down 0.45% or 51.70 points at 11,326.32 points, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.63% or 14.59 points to end the day at 2,310.96 points.
Besides Fed’s Tuesday meet, there is also critical data to come throughout the week, with personal income and factory orders to be released on Monday, and ISM non-manufacturing data Tuesday. On Thursday, weekly jobless claims will be released along with pending home sales and consumer credit. Productivity and costs and wholesale trade will be released on Friday, websites reported.
On Friday, the last trading day of the previous week, the 30-share Sensex of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) had gained 300.94 points or 2.10% before closing the day at 14,656.69 points. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) had added 80.60 points or 1.86% before ending the day at 4413.55 points.
On weekly basis, the Sensex managed to gain 381.75 points or 2.67% while the Nifty gained 101.7 points or 2.36%.
Viral Mehta, director, Mehta FinStock, said, “As the market sentiment is gradually turning positive, I think this rally should extend for a few more sessions as there are no negative events which may dampen the market spirit. Though there are no negative indications, markets may still remain volatile for a few more days as there is still uncertainty prevailing on crude as well as inflation front.”
Following the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announcing a hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and the repo rate, the markets turned volatile last week.
?Last week we had seen that mid-cap stocks have started performing healthier, which is an indication of retail investors re-entering the markets. We may see more of them coming back to market very soon, once crude and inflation shows some signs of stabilisation,? added Mehta.