Monday: Nifty will be directionless with -ve bias; profit booking possible.

Due to concerns over the weakening global economy,investors can take profits out following last week's rally, so markets will be once again directionless with -ve bias.

Regardless of the heinous terror attack on India's financial capital, stock market indices ended in green on Friday led by the better than expected GDP data. Also the overall rollovers to the December were slightly higher against last month-- suggesting optimism for the markets in near term.

Some good news, which might provide boost to India Markets, but the fact of weakening global economy will keep market under pressure:-

1. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the Nifty futures throughout the last week. They squared off short positions on the last day of expiry because their gross open positions in index futures on Friday were at 4.14 lakh contracts, the lowest in the current calendar year on the last day of expiry.
2. India's economy grew a better than expected 7.6 per cent in the September quarter from a year earlier amid the global slowdown. But it eased from the previous quarter's 7.9 per cent. The annual growth for India's fiscal second quarter was higher than a forecast of 7.3 per cent.
3. With inflation gradually easing, all eyes are on the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates in order to sustain demand. However, facing a large debt burden, it is difficult for the government to be as aggressive as they would like in boosting economic activity. Inflation edged lower to 8.84 percent for the week ended November 15 from 8.90 the previous week.
4. Meanwhile, the world will be watching with great interest on the kind of sales figures in the US over the weekend. "If we see a growth of 3 per cent over last year same store sales, we could have a global stock market rally. However, if sales fall below 3 per cent, a visit on the October lows will be on the cards.
5. The day after the Thanksgiving holiday is commonly known as 'black Friday', not because of any grim association, but because it is the day that retailers usually move out of the red and into profitability for the year. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas accounts for between 40% and 50% of annual retail sales in the US.
6. Latest Update: - Strong discounts brought U.S. consumers to the stores on "Black Friday" -- the traditional first day of the holiday shopping season -- with estimated sales rising 3% from last year, according to industry analyst.

In US stocks are expected to enter the month of December with a sense of optimism that much of the dismal environment for corporate profits has already been discounted by the market, even as upcoming reports, including the key jobs report on Friday, are expected to show the economic picture is still worsening. All we have to do is wait and watch for couple of days in Dec, trends will be clear in the 1st week of Dec.

- Sandeep Jain, Associate, HBJ Capital