Nifty started the week on a positive note

Following the positive global cues, Nifty started the week on a positive note above 18100. However, the index traded within a range of 100 points throughout the day and ended around the opening levels with gains of half a percent.

In Monday’s session, Nifty traded within a range but the bias remained positive as some stock/sector specific momentum kept the momentum intraday. The index has so far managed to hold above its immediate support of 18000 -17900 and the data does not indicate any negativity for the equity markets. The U.S. markets are holding above their crucial supports, the Dollar Index has corrected recently and is still showing weakness which is positive for the equity market and the INR has also appreciated against the Dollar. The only major factor that kept the market under pressure in this series was FIIs selling in the cash and index futures segment. However, during last week they have covered their index futures short positions and hence their ‘Long Short Ratio’ has improved from 38 percent to 52 percent. This indicates that this data is not bearish now and hence, the downside seems to be limited from here. In options segment, for them January monthly series 18100 and 18200 call options have decent open interest outstanding indicating immediate resistance at that zone. A move above this hurdle could lead to unwinding of positions by options writers. On the flipside, the open interest data indicated support for Nifty in the range of 18100-18000. Thus, until data changes, traders are advised to look for buying opportunities on intraday declines and look for sector/stock specific opportunities which are outperforming the benchmark. Positionally, our markets have traded within the broad range since last four weeks where 18200-18250 has been the resistance end. Once we surpass this hurdle, a trended upmove could be seen in the short term.

The IT sector continued its positive momentum as stock specific buying interest has been seen post quarterly results. The Nifty PSE index too registered new highs indicating buying interest in the PSE names. The BankNifty index too could see a good momentum above 43000 mark and thus, traders are advised to capitalize on stock from these sectors for higher short term gains.