Week Ahead

The Nifty50 dropped 118 points to 19,310, and the BSE Sensex fell 374 points to 64,949, dented by metal, banking & financial services, technology, oil & gas, and pharma stocks.

The mood at Dalal Street remained subdued for fourth consecutive week, with benchmark indices losing six-tenth of a percent for week ended August 18 and taking the total loss to 3.4 percent on the Nifty50 and 3.94 percent on the Sensex from their record highs of July 20.

Hence, the consolidation may continue largely with negative bias in the coming week, too.

Technically Nifty50 continued making lower highs for fourth straight week and hit the lowest closing level, on weekly basis, since last week of June, but still managed to defend 50-day EMA (exponential moving average) which coincides with 10-week EMA on intraday basis, and 19,300 on closing basis. Hence, 19,300-19,250 area is likely to be crucial for further downside towards psychological 19,000 mark, whereas the hurdle is expected to be 19,400-19,500 on the higher side.

The Option data indicates that 19,400-19,500 is likely to be key resistance area in coming sessions, with support at 19,300-19,200 levels.