Indian benchmark indices are likely to continue their losing streak to open in the red, hinted SGX Nifty. On the Singapore Exchange, Nifty futures were trading lower, down 52 points, at the 17,385 level. On Friday, markets extended losses for a second session, pulled down by negative global cues. At close, Nifty was down 177 points at 17412.9 while Sensex slid 1.12% to settle at 59,135.
“Markets ended the week with a sharp cut of over a percent, tracking feeble global cues. In continuation to the previous session’s fall, the Nifty index opened gap-down and hovered in a narrow band till the end. The selling pressure was widespread wherein the decline in the banking and financial majors was largely weighing on the sentiment. The broader indices too traded in tandem with the trend and lost in the range of 0.7-0.9%,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Technical Research, Religare Broking.
U.S. Treasury Yields
U.S. Treasury yields dropped for the second straight day as risk-averse investors sought safe haven amid brewing troubles in the financial sector. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 61/32 in price to yield 3.6892%, from 3.923% late on Thursday. The 30-year bond last rose 101/32 in price to yield 3.6899%, from 3.87% late on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Asian Markets
Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Monday, despite Wall Street’s closure in the deep red. Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded lower by 1.66%, and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.60% in its first hour of trade. China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component traded higher by 0.47% and lower by 0.36%, respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.75%.
Crude Oil
Oil prices jumped on Friday after the jobs data, but registered a 3% drop on the week over rate hike jitters. U.S. crude rose 1.27% to settle at $76.68 per barrel and Brent settled at $82.78 per barrel, up 1.46% on the day.
FII/DII Data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) net sold shares worth Rs 2,061.47 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) net acquired equities worth Rs 1,350.13 crore on 10 March, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
F&O Ban
The National Stock Exchange has Balrampur Chini and GNFC on its F&O ban list for 13 March. According to the NSE, stocks are prohibited in the F&O sector when they have exceeded 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL). During the F&O ban period, no new positions are permitted for F&O contracts in that stock.
Technical View
“A small negative candle was formed on the daily chart with gap down opening and with long lower shadow. Technically, this pattern indicates a formation of hammer type candle pattern (not a classical one). Normally, such hammer formations post reasonable decline alerts for trend reversal on the upside after confirmation. Nifty on the weekly chart formed a long bear candle this week after a minor upside bounce of last week.
The short term trend of Nifty continues to be weak. Having formed an unfilled downside gap and a formation of positive candle pattern of Friday indicates possibility of minor upside bounce for the market, which is likely to be a sell on rise opportunity for next week. Immediate resistance is around 17,600 levels and the next lower supports to be watched at 17,250,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.