Global Meltdown 'Melts' Nifty

It’s the scenario of a global meltdown today. It’s like a ship, much bigger than Titanic, which is as big as the whole world, and it is going under. Everything seems to be sinking. Let’s have a quick look at the world markets. The Nifty closed with a loss of 215 points for the day while the BSE Sensex tanked 724 points. Asian markets were down quite a bit today (Monday) with the Japanese Nikkei shaving off 4.25%, Hang Seng 4.97%, Chinese markets losing 5.23%, Singapore Straits 5.6% and Jakarta leading the pack with a loss of 10.03%. The situation in the European markets was no better with the London FTSE losing 5.77%, German DAX losing 7.07% while the French CAC lost 9.04%. As far as America is concerned, at the time of writing, Dow Jones was trading 559 points in the red (5.41%), the Nasdaq was losing 139 points (7.13%) while the S&P500 had lost 71 points or 6.43%. On the commodities front, Crude was losing 4.92% today, copper 7.62%, most agricultural commodities losing 6-7% while Gold being the ‘safe haven’ for investors was up 4.13%.

As far as the technical analysis of our charts is concerned, there seems to be no hope for the Nifty, even though there was some good news for the Indian markets. The 40% cap enforced by SEBI in Oct 2007 on Assets Under Custody through Participatory Notes (P-Notes) has now been done away with. So, now there is no restriction on P-Notes. Moreover, the RBI has slashed the CRR by 50 basis points. Both these decisions have been taken with a view to increase increase liquidity in the markets. But one wonders how much will this help when the Nifty has broken the major support level of 3800 and is even below the next support of 3640.

Seen above is the weekly chart of the Nifty showing the movement in the last two years. The portion of the chart from Mar 2007 to May 2008 has been marked with a bearish head and shoulders pattern with the neckline as shown by the green dashed line. The target for this head and shoulders pattern is 2600. It seems that the Nifty today has confirmed another, and larger, head and shoulders pattern formed between June 2007 and today. The neckline for this pattern has been shown as the solid green line. The target for this new pattern is half of the last pattern which roughly works out close to 1300 levels on the Nifty. Though, nothing is ever certain with the markets, I can say with reasonable certainty, and accuracy, that this target would not be achieved. And I sincerely hope, for the good of the nation and so many investors, that the markets do not prove me wrong here. Shown in the bottom portion of the chart is the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which continues on its way down and is not even showing a divergence, which might give us some glimmer of hope.

Some immediate support levels for the Nifty are at 3554 (minor), 3130 (reasonable) and 2600 (strong). The Nifty may go on to achieve one of these levels or can find support somewhere in between. Let us hope that this support level comes as soon as possible. But, if things do not change very soon, I’m afraid to say that we’re going to have a lousy Diwali.

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Nifty Breaks Down, Support Between 4160-4180

The Nifty opened flat today with a slight positive bias. But soon after 11AM the RBI Credit Policy was announced in which repo rates were increased by 50 basis points to 9% while the CRR was increased by 25 basis points to 9% with an effort to reduce inflation. Though, a rate hike was already discounted into the prices, a 50 basis points hike was not expected. Most participants, with inflation figures stabilizing near 11.8-12%, were expecting a 25 basis points hike. Hence, when the news of the hike came, the markets tanked and then just couldn’t recover throughout the day. Finally, the Sensex ended the day with a loss of 557 points while the Nifty was 142 points in the red.

After yesterday’s dull day, it was clear that the Nifty didn’t have the steam to go up despite its going above the resistance line. Attached above is the 30 minutes chart of the Nifty. We can see clearly that the Nifty today broke through the support marked by the upward sloping trendline numbered 1. As expected, there was additional support near the top of the trend channel between 3800 and 4180. While the Nifty did go below the 4180 support, it finally closed the day at 4190. Now the first support available is between today’s low near 4160 and the top of the trend channel, 4180. If the Nifty does manage to go below 4160, the next support comes in at the trendline marked 2 near 4100. There are other supports too below that near 3900 and 3800 but for tomorrow, I don’t think we need to look beyond the 4100 support.

News from the international front is better too. While the European markets closed flat, the Dow Jones is up almost 200 points. There is good news from crude oil too. It did lose about $5 today but at the moment it is trading with a loss of $3 for the day at $122 per barrel. If the Asian markets too remain good tomorrow morning, we should see the Nifty bounce back from the top of the trend channel. Going by the Fibonacci retracements too, the Nifty has already retraced 50% of the rise in the last week. Now, whether the Nifty sees this 50% retracement as a good retracement or whether it finds the 61.8% retracement a more reliable support is yet to be seen. 61.8% retracement comes in at 4077.

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Repo Rate Hiked, No Major Reaction Expected

The Nifty opened in the positive today and then had a few volatile sessions where the market was taken up, brought down, taken up again, brought down again and stayed in a range of 4490-4540 throughout the day. It finally closed the day at 4523, 73 points in the green.

Before I delve further into the newsletter, I must apologise for posting just the charts yesterday without much analysis and commentary. Actually, it was pretty late when I started last night and was already feeling sleepy when I started.

Today, I have the 30 minutes chart of the Nifty for you. A little bit of on-the-chart-analysis yesterday told you that there was some positive divergence visible between the price and the Relative Strength Index (RSI). A positive divergence, or a bullish divergence, occurs when the price is making a lower low or a lower high and an oscillator indicator (like RSI, MACD, Momentum, Rate of Change etc.) makes higher lows or higher highs during the same period. This positive divergence has been marked by the thick brown lines in the chart.

Another area on the chart marked by a brown double sided arrow is the gap created three days ago which still remains unfilled. One of the characteristics of a gap is that they are either filled very quickly or remain unfilled for a long time. This gap should have been filled by now. The reluctance of the price today to go into the gap territory is clearly visible on the chart. This may not be a very good sign for the markets. A double resistance is close by at 4560 which is the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level and the green coloured downward sloping trendline.

In case the Nifty were to cross this resistance, it should go on to fill the gap and reach the 38.2% retracement level at 4675 or find resistance somewhere within the zone of resistance marked by the black rectangle between 4670 and 4720. The RBI has increased the repo rate by 25 basis points from 7.75% to 8%. A major part of the market was expecting some sort of intervention, following the petrol and diesel hike, by the RBI before their next credit policy which is due in July end. Since a major part of the market was expecting a hike, it may have an immediate knee jerk negative reaction on the markets but no major downside owing to the rate hike is expected. Of course, a major downside based on technical factors (like the gap not being filled or the previous low of 4370 being broken) cannot be ruled out. The best thing would be still to maintain a cautious view.

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Markets Tumble as Crude Advances

The US markets (Dow Jones) was down over 200 points last night (Thursday) on concerns of crude oil reaching a record high of $123 a barrel. Even the Asian markets were weak this morning and we were bound to go down with weak global cues. It was because of this reason that the Sensex opened more than 200 points down while the Nifty opened about 50 points in the red and then stayed down all through within a range of only 30 points throughout the day.

We have the 30 minutes chart of the Nifty with us today and there are some observations that we can make from it. The support trendline on this chart is lower than it was on the 60 minutes chart. Here we have support from the trendline at around 5070, which has not been broken as yet. The highs made between 5065 and 5070 on 22nd, 24th and 25th of April also provide support at these levels, which has been signified by another trendline. And then we have another trendline, and this time a downtrending one, which signifies that prices should go up if they cross this trendline at 5100. This last trendline, if seen in conjunction with the RSI signifies a positive divergence, which means that while the prices have been coming down during this period, RSI has remained more or less stable. There is another trendline, which connects the high made on 7th April and the lows made on 15th and 16th April, which also provides support at 5070 but that has not been shown here to avoid two things – firstly, and more importantly, confusion, and secondly, excessive analysis, because excessive analysis leads to paralysis, also known as analysis paralysis, says Chris Garrett.

The price of crude oil has more than doubled in the last year and a half, has become six times in the last six years and has become eight times in the last nine years. Some of the causes of rising crude oil prices have been discussed in one of my previous posts titled “Renewable Energy”. Incidentally, this article has also been published on Reuters.

This article on Bloomberg writes that countries like China, India, Russia and the middle east may be responsible for the rising crude oil prices. A few days back President Bush too attributed the rising food cost to China and India. While that may have been a little far-fetched to swallow, Bloomberg (rather, the International Energy Agency in Paris) may well be right about its claim, though if we compare the per capita consumption, US is still consuming 10 times the energy than India does.

Dance with shadows says that The burden of the rising crude price has a huge bearing on the profitability of many industrial units in India. Commodities such as aviation turbine fuel (ATF), naphtha and bitumen have witnessed a huge price increase during 2007-2008. These products are selling at market-determined prices. Their prices are up by 27-39% year-on-year. It is expected that the rising price would have a huge impact on air travel, power and polymers sectors directly. We need to prepare to pay more for most manufactured products in the future.

This clearly shows that these increasing crude prices will have an effect on the inflation in our country and CRR hikes and interest rate hikes may not be the only solution. Maybe that is why the markets went down today, fearing the worst. It could very well be the same tomorrow, depends on global cues. Plus, the inflation data is also due out tomorrow. Let us cross our fingers and hope for the best. Technical Analysis does help buy but sentiment holds the key.

Happy Investing!!!

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Above 5000, Expect a Target of 5500

Before I start with anything else, I must thank all my readers for their continued support. I have now posted 100 posts on this blogspot. It is all because of your continued support and readership that this blog is still a success. I hope that my source of inspiration – my readers – continue to extend their support to me.

Last week was a good week. The markets were closed on Monday on account of Ram Navmi and they were closed again on Friday because of Mahavir Jayanti. So, we were working only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I, somehow, liked this three day week. I hope there are many more to come. And now on Sunday evening, Monday blues are already catching up with me.

In terms of market movement too, it turned out to be a good week. The Nifty ended all three days in the green, thus ending the week with a net gain of 180.60 points. Maybe the market too likes three day weeks. We just have to wait and see how Monday goes. If it is a down day then we’ll know that ‘Monday Blues’ don’t affect only the humans.

On account of news, it was a mixed week. The inflation figures that were declared on Thursday this week instead of Friday showed that there was a slight drop. It dropped to 7.14% as compared to the 7.41% the week before that. The RBI Governor decided to increase the CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) by 50 basis points in two steps to 8%, which is expected to suck out approximately Rs.18500 crores of liquidity. It was surprising that the decision was taken in spite of the marginal drop in inflation but, more than that, surprising was that the decision could not wait upto the credit policy announcement on 29th April. This may suggest some harsher decisions to be announced on April 29th.

While a CRR hike of 50 basis points was expected, no change in the repo rates is expected at the moment. Even though the hike was expected to some extent, the market may still react negatively. There is a view in the market that even though a repo rate hike is not expected at the moment, the CRR hike itself will have an automatic upward pressure on the interest rates. There is also a view that a CRR hike wasn’t necessary and is not likely to contain inflation to a great extent. A major part of the current increase in inflation can be attributed to the increase in the prices of metals, the prices of which are not governed by or within India and the only way to address that issue is to have restrictions in place so that the supply is increased. That explains the reason why steel exports were banned last week.

Let’s get to the technical analysis part of the newsletter. Seen above is the daily chart of Nifty. We can clearly see that at this level, the Nifty is not only finding resistance at the top of its range but also from the downtrending line which has been in place for the last 3 months. This is likely to be a strong resistance. The CRR hike has come about at an inopportune time. This will add to the pressure that the Nifty is facing at 5000 levels. Maybe the time to cross these levels has not yet come. Maybe we’ll have to wait some more.

However, all is not lost yet. Even at the top of the range the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is nowhere close to the overbought levels (above 70), which suggests that there is still some scope left for the prices to go up. Secondly, there is a positive divergence between the price and the RSI visible on the charts. Positive divergence means that while the price is making lower highs, the RSI is continuing to make higher highs. And another positive at this time seems that the RSI has broken through its upward sloping trendline. And not to forget the influence of the global markets which all looked happy and strong on Friday (except China). Maybe, after all, this may be the time to go up. Wait and watch. Above 5000, the Nifty is looking at a target of 5500.

Axis Bank has broken through the downward sloping trendline with a big spurt in volumes. One may consider buying near 800 with a stop loss of 740 for a target between 1000 and 1020.

HDFC Bank has made a pattern of fan lines. In fan lines, in the beginning, a stock finds resistance near a particular trendline. Once that trendline is crossed, it does not change its trend immediately but now starts finding resistance near another downtrending trendline. When this trendline is crossed, it yet again finds another trendline. These are called fan lines. In technical analysis, it is usually said that once a stock crosses the third fan line, it should get a good and a quick move. Notice the spurt in volumes on breakout of the third trendline, which was absent during the previous two breakouts. One may consider buying between 1360 and 1380 with a stop loss of 1270 for a target near 1650.

ITC has a history of finding resistance between 210 and 215. Notice the presence of the two doji candles (having the open and the close at almost the same levels) which signify that this maybe a top to remain for the next few days at least. Also, notice the absence of strength in the RSI because of which it is not able to decisively go through 60. This may be a good time to exit ITC.

Reliance Petro had been stuck inside a narrow range for over 3 months now and has now come out of that range on the upside. Because of the negative news of the CRR hike, a dip to 180 is possible. It might make sense to pick up this stock near 180 with a stop loss of 165 and a target of somewhere between 215 and 220.

Wipro, on its daily charts, seems to have made a bullish head and shoulders pattern. A move above 465 should confirm this pattern. While the stop loss is a little deep at 400, it could be bought above 465 for a target close to 570.

Happy investing!!!

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RBI Credit Policy Along Expected Lines

The Nifty again remained volatile today, as was expected. The RBI Credit Policy announcement today made it all the more volatile. With a 75 basis points cut by Mr. Ben Bernanke, the US Fed Reserve Governer announced last week, some people in India were expecting a rate cut too, at least a 25 bps cut, if not more. But our RBI Governer, Dr. Reddy, is a tough economist and did not follow the Bernanke route and left all key policy rates untouched. But even though there was no rate cut, yet, the Credit Policy had a more neutral stance this time as against the hawkish stance it took last time.

The rate cut not being announced today brought down all the banking stocks and the two banking charts in our newsletter yesterday, which were looking good till the policy was announced, remained underperformers. However, Tata Tea, which was also recommended yesterday, was on fire today and went up by 7.2% to close near 850 after touching a high of 895.

Coming back to the RBI Credit Policy, in short, it looks like this:

• RBI keeps key policy rates unchanged
• RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 7.75%
• RBI keeps reverse repo rate unchanged at 6%
• RBI keeps CRR unchanged at 7.50%

A lot of people were expecting that the RBI Governer may not announce a rate cut just yet and the arguments given by him were what many expected. That money supply is at 23% against a target of 17-17.5%. This means, basically, that too much money in the system can always ignite inflation, and therefore a caution on that area was required.

Abheek Baruah, the Chief Economist at HDFC Bank had the following words to say.

• “With the kind of clarity that has come from the policy where the RBI is not likely to tighten further, perhaps banks could take advantage of this and reprice both lending and deposit rates."
• "I think growth hasn’t slowed drastically enough to completely offset inflation worries and I think across the world, the Fed and perhaps the Bank of England being an exception, most Central Banks seem to emphasise inflation concerns rather than concerns about slowing growth. This could change if the US indeed plunges into recession and there are ripple effects across the world. As of now, the tilt is towards inflation among most Central Banks but this could change going forward and I would think that the second half of this calendar year might just look very different.”

In a nutshell, this is what the RBI credit policy had to say.

• Headline inflation picked up since December 2007
• Liquidity management to be priority for policy
• Inflation to go up even if fuel prices remain unchanged
• Upside risks to inflation to increase going ahead
• Flexibility to change reverse repo, repo rates
• CRR unchanged on preview of current liquidity situation
• Financial markets warrant careful monitoring on large forex flows
• Emphasis on price stability, anchoring inflation
• Retain inflation aim of 4-4.5% for FY08, 3% in medium-term
• To maintain GDP growth target of 8.5% for FY08
• Can't exclude likely Forex flows reversal on global sentiment

That's all for today. Trading opportunities will be identified in tomorrow's newsletter. No trading opportunities studied today.

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