Stock talk: You win some, you lose some

Strong FII buying and a preelection rally supported the markets as it made new highs each day At the end of last week though weak global cues and profit booking made the markets pare some of its gain NIFTY closed at 6694 down around 050per cent on a weekly basisPolice advance near red flares left by demonstrators as they clash with antiausterity protesters and block access to the venue of the European Union Informal Meeting of Ministers for Economic and Financial affairs in Athens Eurozone officials urged Frances incoming government to stick to reform pledges and Greece to capitalise on its austerity sacrifices in return for a longdelayed 63billioneuro slice of bailout cashIf NIFTY falls below 6681 and 6597 then we can assume that the uptrend is under threat On the contrary if NIFTY moves above 6750 the ongoing rally may continue One should wait till getting a firm outlook before creating a large positionIn order to attract more inflow the RBI has simplified the registration process and operating framework The bank said that the portfolio investor registered with SEBI guidelines shall be called Registered Foreign Portfolio Investor RFPI The existing portfolio investor class registered with SEBI namely Foreign Institutional Investor and Qualified Foreign Investor shall be included under RFPIThe RFPI may purchase and sell shares and convertible debentures of an Indian company through registered brokers on recognized stock exchanges in the country as well as purchase shares and convertible debentures which is offered to public in accordance with SEBI guidelinesInvestThese entities are also eligible to invest in government securities and corporate debt subject to limits specified by the RBI and SEBI from time to time It also said that all the investments made by the FIIQFI prior to the registration of RFPI shall continue to be valid and such investors would be permitted to trade in all exchange traded derivative contracts on the stock exchanges to the position limits as specified by SEBI from time to timeInflationThe retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers eased to 814 per cent and 827 per cent respectively in February from 908 per cent and 921 per cent in the previous month mainly on the back of decreased in the prices of food itemsThe inflation based on food index of consumer price index agricultural labourers CPIAL and consumer price index rural labourers CPIRL were at 685 per cent and 699 per cent in the month under consideration The all India CPI AL and CPI RL for February figures were 757 points and 759 points respectivelyOutputThe core sectors output for February rose to a five month high which spurs the hope of a stronger recovery in industrial growth The eight core industries grew 45 per cent in the month under review from 16 per cent in the previous monthThe core sectors constitute almost 38 per cent of index of Industrial production The coal output rose marginally by 01 per cent against a contraction of 07 per cent in the previous month whereas the natural gas output fell 44 per cent from 52 in January Electricity generation rose 104 per cent which was the highest since SeptemberHighsOn the global front in the beginning of last week markets were positive on positive US data and the hopes of a Chinese stimulus Also the comments from the Federal Reserve that the central bank has extraordinary commitment to boost the economy made the US markets hit new highsOn the economic data front manufacturing data and manufactured goods order were strong But coming to the end of last week markets slipped on profit booking as the investors focus shifted towards the US monthly jobs reportEarningsFor the Indian markets in this week balance of trade Industrial Production and Manufacturing Production Data will be the major triggers Also the earnings of some of the major companies may start unveiling in the week The major ones in the list are INFY IndusInd Bank MindTree CMC and Goa CarbonCrudeCrude is getting support at 10052 per barrel and if crude stays above this crucial level for more than two days then it will test 104 in the near term In the Options segment aggressive traders can buy 6700 put options for the near month Short term delivery can be initiated in SKF India Hexaware MampM Tata Steel and Tata MotorsAlex K Mathews is the author of Financial Services And Systems as well as Option Trading Bear Market Strategies published by Tata McGraw Hill He is also the technical and derivatives research head of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd The author may have a vested interest in investments he has recommended Feel free to email him at alexgeojitcom Geojit BNP Paribas has membership in and is listed on the National Stock Exchange NSE and the Bombay Stock Exchange BSE