Two down days this week, were nearly good enough to undo the hard work done by the bulls. The Sensex had scaled a high of 17,212, but eventually ended with a marginal gain of 46 points at 16,867, thanks to the fresh unwinding seen on Friday.
Among the index stocks - Jaiprakash Associates zoomed 9.5 per cent to Rs 68. Hero MotoCorp rallied seven per cent. Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra and Jindal Steel were the major gainers, up over three per cent each. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, DLF, ITC, Hindalco and Tata Steel were the major losers.
So far this month, the index has given no indication according to the Fibonacci charts. Hence, we would stick to our original stance of a range-bound movement for the next couple of weeks. As the markets have bounced back from slightly deep oversold zones, some kind of consolidation seems the order of the day. Next week, the Sensex is likely to move in a broad range of 16,400-17,200. The index needs to cross 17,265 on the upside for fresh strength to emerge.
The NSE Nifty rallied from a low of 4,943 to a high of 5,169, before settling with a gain of 19 points at 5,059.
The markets are behaving very much on expected lines, as they are witnessing selling pressure towards the higher end of the expected trading band.
Since last week, we have been saying that the Nifty is likely to consolidate in the band of 4,800-5,200. Current fall, should not worry as of now, as the index is likely to get strong support around 5,000-odd levels, or deeper down around 4,935.
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The bulls are likely to have the upper hand, as long as the Nifty sustains above 4,800 on a closing basis. While the movement does not call for an all-out bullish bias, but the index seems likely to target 5,300 first before any change in bias.
Next week, the Nifty is likely to seek support around 4,970-4,920, and on the upside the index is likely to face resistance around 5,145-5,200.