Short-Term Debility Underscored

The bourses kicked off on a dull note on Tuesday and wrapped up the session significantly lower levels.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex ended the day at 3281.92 (down 40.25 points) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty at 1055.55 ( down 14.60 points).

The market breadth was widely negative as the figures of advances to declines on the two exchanges stood at 672: 1485. Traded volume on the BSE was Rs 961 crore, while on the NSE it was far higher at Rs 2,015 crore.

The capitalisation of the market breadth was equally negative as the numbers were Rs 152 crore : Rs 2,820 crore on a combined exchange basis. The poor traded volumes, which I had been advocating as a cause for concern, bare a distinct weakness in the undercurrent.

The negative breadth on such poor volumes are an indicator of complete investor apathy towards bottom fishing. The indices have fallen below some crucial short-term supports such as the 13- and 30-day simple moving averages and the previous bottoms at the 1057 and 3295 levels for the Nifty and the sensex, respectively. This is a sign of short-term weakness.

I would advocate extreme caution below the 1040 & 3250 levels on the Nifty and the sensex, respectively, in the near term. The outlook for Wednesday