Q3 earnings, macro data, crude price to guide stock market in week ahead

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: The domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty managed to close week gone by on a positive note despite losses in last two
trading sessions
However, gains remained capped due to lack of any directional cues from global markets and soft third quarter earnings. On a weekly basis,
Sensex advanced 315 points or 0.88 per cent and Nifty inched up 68 points or 0.63 per cent
Weakness in Indian rupee, following rally in global crude oil prices, made investors wary and look away from Indian equities
Going into new week, earnings, global sentiment and macro numbers to remain among most important factors that may dictate market movement
this week. Here is a list of some of key factors that may sway market mood during week:RIL, HDFC Bank, HUL earnings: The week will see
December quarter earnings of heavyweights, including Zee Entertainment, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, Wipro and HDFC Bank
Analysts think that earnings so far have not been able to excite bourses, hence numbers of these company will among most important triggers
and they can alter course of market
Inflation numbers: India's wholesale and retail inflation prints for December will be released on Monday
Both these numbers are important indicators of health of economy and may dominate market movement
Retail inflation, which is calculated on consumer price index (CPI), plunged to a 17-month low in November at 2.33 per cent, mainly on
account of decline in prices of kitchen essentials
On other hand, country's wholesale inflation fell to a three-month low of 4.64 per cent in November, driven down by decline in prices of
food articles, especially vegetables, and some easing in rates of petro products
Experts are expecting numbers to be broadly in same range for December as well. Global sentiment: Fourth-quarter results of heavyweights,
such as Micron Technology, Netflix, Citi, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, will come out this week
Global markets will hope for upbeat numbers from them since they will either bolster view of a slowdown in economy or infuse positivity in
market
Global macros: Many significant global macro numbers, including China's exports and imports data for December, US balance of trade data
for November and retail sales for December, are slated to be released this week
Besides, China might release its fourth quarter GDP data this week
The US Federal Reserve will issue Beige Book of Economic Condition, which is a report of current economic conditions, trends and challenges
The chaos around Brexit can bring discomfort to European markets, which may degenerate to global stocks
As per Reuters, agreement, which May and EU leaders say cannot be renegotiated and is only one available, will almost certainly be rejected
between US and China did not reveal much for market, optimism is still in air
As a key trade data- China's export growth- will be out this week, a soft data may push Beijing to be more accommodative with fiscal
policies as well as with US demand on trade
Crude's course: Oil prices fell nearly 2 per cent on Friday, but ended week higher
Hopes of a Sino-US trade deal have given a leg up to oil prices and as US signalled that more waivers for Iranian oil imports after
reimposition of US sanctions is unlikely, India has something to worry about in wake of an ongoing supply cut by Opec and its ally Russia
Technical outlook: Nifty settled below its 200-day moving average on Friday
The lower-level buying suggested that fight between bulls and bears is even and market may swing in either direction
"Market has been in a rangebound move with Nifty having 10,787 as a fulcrum point
The support for week is seen at 35,330/10,580 while resistance is seen at 36,550/10,960," said Vaishali Parekh, senior technical analyst at
Prabhudas Lilladher.