Week Ahead

The Sensex fell 271 points to 57,920, and the Nifty slipped 129 points to 17,186 in the week. The broader market took a bigger hit. The Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 2.8 percent and the smallcap 100 index was down 1.7 percent.

Buying in banking and technology stocks, after big IT players released their Q2 earnings, limited losses for the market. Auto, energy, FMCG, infra, metal, and oil & gas stocks were under pressure.

In the coming week, the market will first react to HDFC Bank earnings even as volatility is expected to continue amid corporate earnings and global cues.

HDFC Bank on October 15 reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 11,125 crore for the September quarter, up 22.3 percent from the year-ago period. The private lender reported a 23 percent loan growth and pristine asset quality during the July-September period.

Amid all, volatility will remain high due to scheduled earnings and erratic swings in the global market. Participants should align their positions accordingly and we suggest focusing more on risk management.

The rally on October 14 helped the Nifty cut down weekly loss to seven-tenth of a percent but the closing off day's high indicates that the range-bound trade is here for some more time.

The index closed the day a percent higher at 17,186 but slipped below the crucial resistance of 17,350. Support is likely at 17000, followed by 16,800.

The Nifty, as per the weekly chart, formed a positive candle with upper and lower shadow. Technically, this pattern signals the formation of a high- wave type candle pattern. This indicates high volatility in the market.

The options data indicates that the Nifty may remain in a broader trading range of 16,800-17,700, while the immediate range could be 17,000-17,500.