Indian equity markets are looking at a positive start this week on the back of a week of gains. Last week, Sensex and Nifty clocked second straight weekly gains. The headline indices ended in green on three of the five trading sessions, before closing flat with a negative bias on Friday. Both benchmarks rose nearly 2% each to close at 58,786.7 and 17,511.3 respectively, amid gains across most sectors. The midcap and smallcap indices surged around 3-4%.

The early week swings will be crucial for determining the near term trend for both Nifty as well as the broader markets. The Banking index witnessed outperformance during the week as the index had witnessed a buying interest around its 200-DMA support. For this index, 37400 is the immediate hurdle above which, it will open up for an up move towards 37800-38000, said Ruchit Jain, Trading Strategist, 5paisa.com

Apart from Banking, the BSE Capital Goods index witnessed an outperformance as certain stocks from this sector witnessed good buying interest. The chart for this index is positively placed and hence, stocks from this sector too could witness good momentum. Traders are advised to trade with a stock specific approach in this market and be vigilant on how the market participants behave around this mentioned hurdle of 17600. On the flipside, 17480 followed by 17260 will now be seen as immediate supports and a break below the supports could then lead to a loss of momentum, he added.

5 key things to look out for before the opening bell

Global cues

SGX Nifty today was up more than 100 points, hinting at a positive start to the day’s trade amid positive global cues. Nifty futures were up more than 100 points during the early hours of trade. Asia-Pacific markets declined on Friday as investors assess risks associated with the new omicron Covid variant and look ahead to key inflation data in the U.S. Japan’s Nikkei extended losses from the previous session and declined 1%. The Topix index fell 0.77% to 1,975.48. In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.64% while the Kosdaq was down 1.1%. Australian shares also traded lower. The ASX 200 fell 0.42%, with the energy subindex dropping 1.49% as global oil prices struggled for gains.

Technical view

“A small positive candle was formed with upper and lower shadow. Technically, this pattern indicates a formation of high wave type candle pattern. Normally, such high wave formation after a reasonable upmove or down move could be considered as a reversal pattern on either side.Having formed this pattern amidst a range movement, the predictive value could be less. This could be considered as a range bound action,” says Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

The short term trend of Nifty continues to be rangebound. “The lack of selling pressure at the important resistance could indicate higher chances of sharp upside breakout of the hurdle in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 17,400-17,380 levels,” Shetti added further.

Key support and resistance levels to watch out for

The key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 17,432.9, followed by 17,354.5. If Nifty moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,562 and 17,612.7. The Nifty Bank gained 23.25 points to close at 37,105.65 on Friday (10 December). The pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 36,902.26, followed by 36,698.93. On the upside, key resistance levels are at 37,231.06 and 37,356.53 levels.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

Escorts, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Vodafone Idea – are the three stocks under the F&O ban for December 13. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

IPO Watch

MedPlus Health public issue will open for subscription today (13 December), and will remain open for bidding till 15 December. The price band of the issue has been fixed at Rs 780-796 per equity share. The pharmacy retailer’s Rs 1,398.3-crore IPO consists of fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 600 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of shares worth Rs 798.29 crore

Bidding for digital mapping company MapmyIndia’s IPO will end today. The initial share sale of CE Info Systems Ltd, the parent of MapmyIndia, elicited 6.16 times subscription and all categories were oversubscribed on the second day of the offering on Friday.

Tega Industries’ shares will list on stock exchanges BSE and NSE today. The company is set for a decent listing, suggests grey market premium. Shares of Tega Industries are commanding a premium of 65-70 per cent or Rs 300-320 per share in the grey market, over its issue price of Rs 453 apiece.