The week gone by had four trading sessions in which markets gained on two and lost on two. At the end of it all, benchmark indices ended virtually flat but gave loud indications that all is not well. As one reads the news, Iran has attacked Israel with suicide drones and missiles and also declared that as far as they are concerned this was in retaliation to the attack on their embassy, and it’s all over. While the UN security council has called for an emergency session which would be held late in the night, the outcome would be known only when one reads the newspapers tomorrow or the internet. BSESENSEX lost 3.32 points or 0.00% to close at 74,244.90 points while NIFTY lost 5.70 points or 0.03% to close at 22,519.40 points. The broader markets saw BSE100, BSE200 and BSE500 gain 0.22%, 0.12% and 0.15%. BSEMIDCAP gained 0.19% while BSESMALLCAP lost 0.35%. 

What is significant is the fact that new highs were made on the first two days of the week. The high on BSESENSEX was at 75,124.28 points while it was at 22,775.70 points on NIFTY. Looking at the developments which would be discussed later, for the immediate week, these highs look too far away and unlikely to be crossed in a jiffy. 

The Indian Rupee lost 11 paisa or 0.13% to close at Rs 83.41 to the US Dollar. Dow Jones too had a torrid week and lost on four of the five trading sessions and was flat on one. Suffice to say that at the present moment, the high of 39,887 points made on 21st of March looks like a distant dream. Rate cuts, an expectation which was driving markets has been dashed to the ground. This has happened because the economy is in fine fettle and inflation which has been a key concern, is refusing to moderate. In such a scenario, rate cuts in the immediate short term should be ruled out. 

Our markets began their upward journey with expectation of results for the five state assemblies which were to be declared in the first week of December23. The benchmark indices on Friday, the 24th of November 23, were at 65,970.04 points on the BSESENSEX and at 19,794.70 points on NIFTY. At the end of the next week on 1st of December, they had moved to 67,481.19 points and 20,267.90 points. Exit polls were announced post market closing on Friday the 1st of December and results were declared on Sunday, 3rd December. In the week ended Friday the 8th of December, markets had moved to 69,825.60 points and 20,969.40 points respectively. Gains in the two week period were 3,855.56 points or 5.84% in BSESENSEX and at 1,174.70 points or 5.93% on NIFTY. Since then we have moved up much further, discounting the outcome of the general elections and gained another 6.3% on the BSESENSEX and 7.39% on NIFTY. Call it by any name, markets need a correction as there is virtually no space for further upside right away.

Shares of Bharti Hexacom Limited who had issued shares at Rs 570, listed on Friday the 12th of April. Shares ended day one with a fantastic appreciation and closed at Rs 813.75, a gain of Rs 243.75 or 42.76%. The issue was an OFS of 15% of the equity capital which was offered by the Government of India. The remaining 15% of the equity or 7.5 crore shares are locked in for six months from the date of listing. One could be sure that looking at the share performance, the government would look to sell these shares when the opportunity arose. 

In what could be termed as sheer coincidence, Vodafone Idea Limited, yet another telecom player is tapping the capital markets with its follow on offer for Rs 18,000 crores in a price band of Rs 10-11. The issue would open on Thursday the 18th of April and close on Monday the 22nd of April. The share price on BSE closed at Rs 12.96. The top end of the band offers an arbitrage of Rs 1.96 or 17.8% while at the lower end of the band, the arbitrage is Rs 2.96 or an attractive 29.6%. 

The company has allotted shares worth Rs 1,200 crs to a vendor, ATC, a tower company towards pending dues at Rs 10. This has been done about three weeks ago and I strongly believe this should be the price at which the company would allot shares to all applicants. The present shareholding of the company is 32.3% for the Vodafone group, 18.1% for the Aditya Birla group and 33.1% for the government of India. Public shareholders hold 16.5%. This issue would keep the markets engrossed and there would be various arbitrage opportunities available. While the share is traded in futures and options, it is currently in the banned stage as overall exposure has crossed limits of the exchange for the scrip. 

The Mauritius double tax treaty has seen a change being introduced where the PPT (principal purpose test) has been made a key for the purpose of lower tax being applicable or not. While the ramifications are yet to be known, on the very first day itself there was large selling by FPIs who sold shares worth Rs 8,000 crores on a net basis. Details of the policy have begun to trickle in on Friday.

The current global scenario, US FED and expectations of interest rates being cut being dashed, geo-political news being disturbed with first Ukraine-Russia, then Israel and Gaza and now Israel and Iran with the Houthis thrown in as bonus, is keeping the pot boiling. Crude is once again threatening to move towards the three digit mark with gold having made a new high. All of this points to uncertain times and the fact that global markets cannot make new highs in such times. We need stability and a period of consolidation.

TCS has declared results for the 4th quarter and year ended March 24. There is improvement and order flows have certainly improved. Looking at the large size of TCS, one cannot take this as indicative of the entire IT space and one certainly needs to know how the mid-tier and small IT companies would fare. One would have to wait for results from some more companies before coming to a decision. 

Coming to the markets, expect them to remain volatile and under pressure. As of the time of writing this article, all indications are towards a gap-down opening on Monday. One will have to burn the midnight oil or have an early rise tomorrow to see the outcome of the UN security council special session outcome. Irrespective of anything, there is escalation of tension and this leads to uncertainty. Uncertainty is bad for markets. 

The strategy for the week ahead, which has four trading sessions with a festival holiday on Wednesday, is to sell on sharp rallies and buy only on sharp dips. The focus should be on large cap and select midcap stocks. As markets are overdue for a correction and consolidation, allow markets to find their own levels. There is no need to push the pedal in buying. Trading and buying opportunities would be available. In terms of resistances, the highs made on Tuesday at 75,124 and 22,775 points acting as strong resistance. Similarly the previous lows made at  21,900 points and around 72,000 points would act as strong supports.

Trade cautiously. 

The week gone by consisted of five trading sessions and markets gained on three of the five sessions. On Friday, markets were up a tad with BSESENSEX up a mere 21 points while NIFTY was down 1 point. BSESENSEX gained 596.87 points or 0.81% to close at 74,248.22 points while NIFTY gained 186.80 points or 0.84% to close at 22,513.70 points. The broader markets saw BSE100, BSE200 and BSE500 gain 1.14%, 1.62% and 2.12% respectively. BSEMIDCP was up 3.84% while BSESMALLCAP was up 6.64%. The new highs on BSESENSEX was at 74,501.73 points while it was at 22,619 points on NIFTY. 

Indian Rupee gained 10 paisa or 0.12% to close at Rs 83.30 to the US Dollar. Dow Jones gained on two of the five sessions and lost on three. Dow lost 903.33 points or 2.27% to close at 38,904.04 points. The US markets are worried about the FED not cutting interest rates in the immediate short term. With employment data and the economic indicators pointing to a roaring economy, one wonders whether a cut would be appropriate at all. Further the concern about high inflation seems to have taken a back seat and the Central Bank is not too sure about the impact that a rate cut could do to contain inflation. This probably explains the sharp fall in the markets. 

RBI decided to keep rates unchanged and believes that inflation is being tamed. While inflation is cooling off, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das ‘would like the elephant to return to the forest’. With the country in the midst of elections for the Lok Sabha, no one expected any rate cut this time around. 

In primary market news, we had one listing and one issue opening and closing for subscription during the week. There is no issue expected during the coming week on the main board. 

Shares of SRM Contractors Limited who had issued shares at Rs 210 listed on the bourses on Wednesday, the 3rd of April. The share debuted on day one at Rs 225 and closed at Rs 236.20, a gain of Rs 26.20 or 12.47%. By Friday, the share lost some ground and closed at Rs 228.30, a gain of Rs 18.30 or 8.71%. 

Bharti Hexacom had tapped the capital markets with its offer for sale of 7.5 crore shares in a price band of Rs 542-570. The issue was subscribed 29.88 times overall with QIB portion subscribed 48.57 times, HNI portion subscribed 10.51 times and Retail portion subscribed 2.82 times. There were 6.16 lakh applications in all. The shares being offered in the IPO are by the Government who is selling half of its 30% shareholding. 

The week ahead has a trading holiday on Thursday and would therefore see some profit taking on Wednesday as there is an extended break, with the holiday confined to India. The upside resistance for the markets would be the new highs made last week at 74,501 points on BSESENSEX and at 22,619 points on NIFTY. Support exists at the lows made at 72,416 and at 21,710 points. While these levels seem quite far away currently, they are good levels to fall back on if new long positions are to be initiated for the medium term. 

Expect markets to trade with sharp and two sided moves. There would be a lot of intraday movement and markets looking to decide a trend. In terms of FPI activity, it seems to be a mixed bag with them being buyers on some days and sellers on other days. Domestic institutions or funds have a continuous supply of flows from retail investors which makes them net buyers on more or less a continuous basis. The state of markets with their being at new highs, ensures a steady flow of new equity paper in the form of QIPs and OFS. This comes from promoters and PE investors and also ensures that appetite for new paper is continuously met. It also ensures that the supply demand mismatch does not happen and causes markets to spike because of supply constraints. 

The strategy for the week would be to buy on dips and sell on rallies. While the all-time highs are almost there, one needs to be cautious at these levels while maintaining a balance that if the same is crossed there could be a sharp up move as well. Caution needs to be exercised at the same time towards there being a stock rotation where different stocks move and markets remain around the same levels. Action in midcap and small cap space is again opening up and select counters from this space can be looked at. The first of the IT results would be declared by TCS on Friday, the 12th of April. Hopefully, this would set the trend.

In conclusion, while things look rosy and promising, it’s that time in the markets where one needs to be extra careful where a reversal also can happen any time. 

Trade cautiously.