Weekly trend remains positive

The markets edged higher throughout the week albeit in a lacklustre manner. The Sensex moved in a very narrow range of 210-odd points. The index recorded a high and low of 17,563 and 17,351, respectively. The BSE benchmark index eventually ended with a gain of 91 points at 17,521.

Among the Sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel surged 5.5 per cent to Rs 322. Sterlite Industries and Housing Development Finance Corp rallied over 4.5 per cent each. Maruti Suzuki India, ICICI Bank, Cipla, HDFC Bank, Hindalco Industries and Mahindra and Mahindra are the other major gainers. On the other hand, Jindal Steel slipped over two per cent to Rs 455. Hero MotoCorp, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC and Infosys were the other prominent losers.

As per the monthly Fibonacci chart, the Sensex has not given any indication so far. Having said that, the bias is likely to remain positive as long as the index sustains above 17,430. On the upside, the index can target 17,800 or rally further to 18,080-odd levels.

On the downside, in case of a significant correction, the Sensex can seek support around 16,700-odd levels.

Next week, the Sensex is likely to seek support around 17,440-17,390, while face resistance around 17,600-17,652. A break-out on either side of the range, could see further strength in that particular direction.

The NSE Nifty moved in a thin range of 70-odd points. The index touched a high of 5,334, and a low of 5,263, before settling with a gain of 38 points at 5,317.

The weekly MACD and the Stochastic Slow are in favour of the upward journey to continue. However, the moving averages and the ADX index (Average Directional Index) indicate that the current up move is weak.

Also, the Stochastic Slow and the RSI (Relative Strength Index) has entered overbought levels on the daily charts. Hence, one needs to be cautious at higher levels.

On the upside, the Nifty is likely to face some resistance around 5,350. The overall trend remains up with major target set around 5,500-odd levels. However, there could be a possibility of the index correcting first and looking to fill the gap around 5,190-odd levels. In which case, the Nifty is likely to find considerable support around 5,150-5,190.