Equity Pulse : Market sentiment to remain positive with the possibility of fresh highs

Dear Kundapur Govardhana Kini,   We understand the need for the right research to make smart  investment decisions. To keep you well informed, we present the market outlook for this week.   Previous Week : Markets traded in a narrow range   The Indian markets traded in a narrow range during last weeks trade     as intraday volatility was high The market closed in the green in three out of five trading days     during last weeks trade. The Nifty managed to hold above 5200 for most of the week. Indian equities moved higher during the early part of the week but faced profit booking during the last two days of the week On a week-on-week basis, the BSE Sensex rose 75 points or about 0.4%, to close at 17540.29. The S&P CNX Nifty, on the other hand, moved up 43 points or 0.8% to close at 5244.75 for the week The food price index rose 18.22% in the 12 months to December 26, 2009, lower than an annual rise of 19.83% in the previous week   Week Ahead : Market sentiment to remain positive with the possibility of fresh highs   The market breadth has been quite positive in the last few weeks     despite some minor corrections. The economic scenario has also been improving at least in terms of released data. However, one concern going around the market is the inflationary scenario   Indian equities will keep a close watch on the Government data on     industrial performance for November 2009, as measured by the index of industrial production (IIP), which will be unveiled on January 12, 2010. Inflation data for December 2009 is due on January 14, 2010   Major companies announcing Q3 results include Infosys     Technologies (on January 12), Bajaj Auto (January 12), TCS (January 15), HDFC Bank (January 15) and Axis Bank (January 15)   The RBI will hold the third quarter review of the monetary policy on     January 29, 2010, when it is widely expected to hike the cash reserve ratio or the percentage of amount banks park with the RBI to absorb excess money from the system   Overall, as Nifty managed to score a new high after failing to do     so for last three times, we expect the market sentiment to remain positive in the coming week also with the possibility of fresh highs Sincerely, ICICIdirect.com Did you know : You can set SMS Alerts to receive stock quotes of your favourite stocks.