Investors focused on data releases, central bank meetings

NEW DELHI: Investors are now closely focused on upcoming data releases and central bank meetings scheduled for the coming week, including decisions from the US Fed Reserve, BoE, and BoJ, says Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Elevated crude oil prices and concerns about inflation initially cast a shadow over the market. However, this negative sentiment was offset by robust domestic industrial and manufacturing production data, as well as a decline in inflation, which propelled the market to new highs, he said.

The market also received support from a set of positive global cues. Some of the positive global cues include China's recovery from deflation, cooling core inflation in the US, which supports the idea of a rate pause, and hints from the ECB about a potential pause in rates due to receding inflation.

However, mid and small-cap indices faced pressure as profit booking set in, driven by overvaluation concerns and after reaching all-time highs, he said.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said the US interest rate decision is due where Fed is expected to take a pause, which might bring relief to the global markets.

Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities said the short term trend of Nifty continues to be positive. There is a possibility of further upside with volatility in the coming sessions. The next upside target to be watched at 20,450 levels.

Rupak De, Senior Technical analyst at LKP Securities said the Nifty continued to exhibit strength as the index reached new highs. Strong Put writing at 20,100 has further bolstered positive sentiment in the market. The trend is expected to remain positive as long as the Nifty remains above the 20,000 mark. In the short term, there is potential for the Nifty to move towards the 20,480 - 20,500 range on the upside.