Markets Brace For More Surprises

The ongoing 5 day rally was cut short abruptly and violently on Friday as Nifty slipped more than 150 points from its intraday peak of 5600. Nifty had rallied another 50 points in the morning session before selling in most heavyweights pushed the indices lower. Selling was seen across the board as bears pounced upon the opportunity. The infra and realty were the first to lose ground but even the banking counters encountered a drubbing. Still, Nifty ended the week with a gain of around 2.8%. Banking index emerged as the biggest gainer with Capital gains and metals index following closely. All sectors finished the week in green. But, as we enter the expiry week for the Feb series the momentum may have shifted towards the bearish scenario as the volumes on Friday were huge.  5350-70 would be the first significant support zone on the downside and while it was broken without much sweat, it is expected to provide some strong support this time around. But more than the technicals, it’s the other happenings that could impact the markets. Monday happens to be the beginning of Budget session and traders and investors would be watching it with anxiety and nervousness. If the parliament is not allowed to function properly then it would provide more fodder to the confident bears and would be a big negative. Then, the CBI enquiries into 2G scam is another event that’s causing much nervousness and there’s always a question hanging in air, ‘who’s next’.  Even Friday’s session was hot on various rumors and that may have added to the unwinding/short selling. And then, we have not even touched upon the various international events, be it Middle-east crisis or tightening by China. So, overall next week is expected to be extremely volatile and it would be foolhardy to anticipate anything.  As for technical levels, as mentioned earlier 5350-5370 should be the first hurdle for bears while more support is seen around 5280-5300. Drop to the second support could be utilized for some bargain buying in banking and Capital Goods/infra counters. On the way up, 5510-25 would be the initial hurdle while strong resistance is likely around 5575-5610.