Crossing the Limit?

Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world. - Schopenhauer. Indian stock indices appeared to have crossed its limit in the near term after snapping a five-week winning streak last week. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama says there appears to be a growing consensus in India that the time may be right for another wave of economic reforms to make India more competitive in the global economy. Back home, the much-hyped presidential election also takes place this week, with Pranab Mukherjee in the driver’s seat. The period after the presidential polls is likely to be an important one amid growing expectations on the reforms front. Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Dr. Reddy’s, Hero MotoCorp., Dish TV, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints and Crompton Greaves are among the top names declaring their numbers this week. In terms of data, the Government will release wholesale (WPI) inflation today and retail (CPI) inflation later this week. The Nifty violated the trading band of 5260-5360 on the downside last week. It has been hovering around the critical juncture of 20 DMA (5215). A sustained move below the same could aggravate the selling pressure in the near term. Near-term resistance exists around 5300-5350. Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke will update the US congress about the state of the economy this week. Markets around the world will look for hints about a possible launch of QE3. Wall Street will also react to US retail sales, industrial production and a whole host of corporate earnings. The eurozone will continue to be on investors' radar amid ongoing efforts to rein in the seemingly never-ending credit crisis. Main Results Today: Castrol India, Exide, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, South Indian Bank, Supreme Infra and Tata Coffee. Trend in FII flows: The FIIs were net buyers of Rs 2.81bn in the cash segment on Friday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs 3.7bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE. The FIIs were net sellers at Rs 4.91bn in the F&O segment on Friday, according to the provisional NSE data. The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 3.13bn in the cash segment on Thursday while the Mutual Funds were net sellers at Rs 2.21bn, according to the SEBI figures. Global Data Watch today: UK Rightmove housing price index, Italy's trade balance, Eurozone CPI, Eurozone trade balance, NY Empire State manufacturing index, US retail sales and US business inventories.