This week in a nutshell (August 16th to August 20th)

Technical talks

NIFTY opened the week on 16th August at 16,518 and closed on 20th August at 16,450. It made a weekly loss of 0.5%. The index is trading near the 10 DMA of 16,414 which might act as a support. On the upside 16,701 level might act as a resistance. The RSI (65), and MACD turning downwards suggests a further possible decline.

Weekly highlights

• Tens of thousands of people have tried to flee Afghanistan since the Taliban militants entered into its capital Kabul, on Sunday, completing a defeat of government forces and ending two decades of war. On Thursday, the United States struggled to evacuate the Americans and Afghans at Kabul airport due to obstacles like armed Taliban checkpoints and paperwork problems. With a deadline of 31st August declared by the president of America, Joe Biden, thousands of people remain to be airlifted from the chaotic country.
• PM Narendra Modi on 15th Aug announced a $ 1.35 trillion ‘Gatishakti’ initiative to bring employment opportunities for the youth and to help in infrastructure growth. He said that Gatishakti will help local manufacturers turn globally competitive and develop possibilities of new economic zones.
• The RBI has partially lifted restrictions that it had imposed on HDFC Bank last December, allowing it to resume issuing credit cards. However, restrictions on new digital launches remain. Despite the ban, HDFC Bank remains the largest credit card issuer, with 14.8 million cards outstanding at the end of June, followed by SBI Card with 12 million and ICICI Bank with 11.03 million. (Source: Mint)
• Federal Reserve officials made plans to pull back the pace of their monthly bond purchases likely before the end of the year, meeting minutes released on Wednesday indicated. The committee members broadly agreed that employment has not met the “substantial further progress” benchmark the Fed has set before it would consider raising rates.
• Ola launched its first e-scooter with the Ola S1 series in India on 15th August 2021. The electric scooter was launched in two variants – Ola S1 and Ola S1 Pro. The company is officially opening Ola S1 for purchase from 8th September 2021 and will start delivering across 1,000 cities and towns in October this year. 
• FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) were net sellers and DII (Domestic Institutional Investors) were net buyers this week. There was a net outflow of Rs 43,144 mn from the FII while DII invested Rs 1,224 mn.

Things to watch out for next week

• As the world cautiously looks at the further developments in the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, it may have a significant effect on the stock markets.
• US employment data and the various economies getting back on track after the 2nd covid wave will be among the deciding factors that drive the stock markets.

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