OIL TANK S TO NEAR SIX-YEAR LOW; NIFTY TAKES OUT 8300 HURDLE

OIL TANK S TO NEAR SIX-YEAR LOW; NIFTY TAKES OUT 8300 HURDLE

WORLD MARKETS

US indices lost between 0.5%-0.8% as oil plunged to near six-year low.

Nymex oil plunged nearly 5% or $2.29 to $46.07, its lowest level since April 2009 after Goldman Sachs slashed its short-term price forecasts and Gulf producers showed no sign of curbing output. Brent plunged nearly 6% to $47.24.

European markets, except a flat FTSE, gained between 0.8%-1.4% as speculation on further stimulus from the ECB boosted sentiment. News reports suggested that ECB is planning to design a sovereign debt purchase program based on the paid-in capital contributions made by euro zone central banks.

US aluminum producer Alcoa came out with better-than-estimated earnings and revenue after the close of the US markets, marking the unofficial start to the earnings season.

                                                             

AT HOME

After trading in a narrow range for better part of the day, benchmark indices spiked up in last hour of trade to end with gains of half a percent, extending the winning streak to third straight day. Sensex rose 127 points to settle at 27585 while Nifty finished at 8323, up 38 points. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 0.6% and 0.8% respectively. BSE Capital Goods and FMCG indices gained the most among the sectoral indices, rising 1.6% and 1.4% respectively while Metal and Oil & Gas indices lost 1.7% and 1.2% respectively, becoming top losers.

FIIs net bought stocks worth Rs 245 cr but net sold index futures and stock futures worth Rs 245 cr and 197 cr respectively. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 331 cr.

Rupee appreciated 16 paise to end at 1-month high of 62.16/$.

India's IIP grew 3.8% in November after shrinking 4.2% in October. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index rose 5% in December, compared with 4.38% in November. Both were better than the estimates of about 2.2% and 5.2% respectively. Core CPI stood at 5.2%, down from 5.5% in the previous month. Within IIP, while production of basic goods (7%), capital goods (6.5%) and intermediate goods (4.3%) expanded, output of consumer goods shrank by 2.2% due to a sharp contraction in consumer durables (14.5%).

OUTLOOK

China's December exports have shown a growth of 9.9%, beating the estimate of 6.8% uptick. Imports have contracted 2.3%, better than the estimated 7.4% fall. Trade surplus is at $49.1 bn as against $54.5 bn in November and estimate of $49.85 bn.

Nikkei is down nearly 2%, other Asian markets are trading mixed with modest changes and SGX Nifty is suggesting about 25 points higher opening for our market.

Nifty yesterday gained 38 points to end at 8323, taking out the 8300 hurdle on closing basis. 8300 was the 61.8% retracement level of the recent 8446-8065 fall, a crossover of which has paved the way for the retest of the 8446 top. Now 8446 is also where the upper band of bollinger on the daily chart is placed, which makes it an important hurdle to eye, a crossover of which is required to put the bulls in the dominating positions.

Meanwhile traders can hold on to long positions with the stop loss of 8215, which is the immediate support on the hourly chart.

Indusind Bank and DCB will report their quarterly earnings today.