Saturday, August 17, 2019

Sensex, Nifty charts (Aug 16, 2019): fight back by bulls fizzling out?

In a holiday-shortened trading week, FIIs were net sellers of equity on Tue. and Fri. (Aug 13 and 16), but were net buyers on Wed. Aug 14. Their total net selling was worth Rs 3.6 Billion. DIIs were net buyers on all three trading days of the week. Their total net buying was worth Rs 28.8 Billion, as per provisional figures.

India's CPI based inflation eased marginally to 3.15% in Jul '19 from 3.18% in Jun '19 due to softening fuel prices. CPI inflation was 4.17% in Jul '18. WPI based inflation dropped to a multi-year low of 1.08% in Jul '19 from 2.02% in Jun '19. WPI inflation was 5.27% in Jul '18.

India's merchandise exports grew 2.25% to US $26.3 Billion in Jul '19 against $25.75 Billion in Jul '18. Imports declined 10.4% to $39.76 Billion in Jul '19 against $44.39 Billion in Jul '18. Trade deficit narrowed to $13.46 Billion in Jul '19 from $18.64 Billion in Jul '18.

BSE Sensex index chart pattern


Within a larger 'broadening top' pattern, the daily bar chart pattern of Sensex appears to be forming a 'rising wedge' pattern from which the likely breakout is downwards.

A sharp fall on Tue. Aug 13 dropped the index back inside the 'support zone' (between 35900 and 37100). Sensex bounced up above the 'support zone' on the back of combined FII and DII buying on Wed. Aug 14 and closed the truncated week of trading below its three EMAs in bear territory.

Daily technical indicators are looking neutral to bearish. MACD has crossed above its signal line in bearish zone. ROC, RSI and Slow stochastic have moved up towards their respective neutral zones, but are not showing much upward momentum. 

There have been rumours of tax tweaks for FIIs and a stimulus package for the economy as finance ministry and PMO officials have been huddling together to find some way out of the economic mess they have created. 

Any 'band aid' policy adjustments are unlikely to provide more than a short-term boost to sentiment. Inverted bond yield curves in Europe and USA may be giving an early warning of a global recession. 

Negative sentiment and economic uncertainty are not conducive to bullish animal spirits, but they are ideal for bearish animal spirits. Expect more near-term downside and some consolidation before lower base effect kicks in from Q3 (Dec '19) onwards.

NSE Nifty index chart pattern


The weekly bar chart pattern of Nifty moved above the 11100 level intra-week, but dropped back to close inside the 'support zone' (between 10700 and 11100) - losing about 0.6% on a weekly closing basis.

The index continued to trade inside a large 'broadening top' pattern and below its 20 week and 50 week EMAs. Bears are threatening to take complete control of the chart. Bullish response has not been very forceful.

Weekly technical indicators are looking neutral to bearish. MACD is below its signal line, and has fallen to its neutral zone. ROC is below its falling 10 week MA and is moving sideways inside oversold zone. RSI has bounced up from the edge of its oversold zone. Slow stochastic is moving sideways at the edge of its oversold zone

Nifty's TTM P/E has moved down to 27.33 - which is above its long-term average in overbought zone. Despite a sharp fall, the breadth indicator NSE TRIN (not shown) remains well inside its oversold zone. Some near-term index upside or some consolidation is possible.

Bottomline? Sensex and Nifty charts are consolidating near long-term support zones. Rumours of an economic stimulus and a tax tweak for FIIs have raised hopes of battered bulls. Small investors should remain on the sidelines. 

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