Global cues and activity in the primary market will be in the spotlight on Dalal Street in the week starting December 20, after central banks began to tighten their ultra loose monetary policies. Foreign fund flow and newsflow related to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will also be in focus.

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Last week, the Sensex and Nifty50 tanked three percent each following two back-to-back weekly gains, dragged by losses across most sectors especially financial stocks. The midcap and smallcap barometers tanked around four percent each.

What to expect this week

Investors globally will track American and British GDP data closely for more clarity on the world economy's resilience against the pandemic, at a time when the Omicron variant is fuelling fear in the financial markets once again.

"Participants are keeping a close watch on the COVID-19 situation due to the new variant and related updates will continue to induce volatility in the days to come...The announcement of policy tightening by the Fed has not gone well with the participants," said Ajit Mishra, VP Research at Religare Broking.

Foreign fund flow will be in focus on Dalal Street as FIIs continue to offload Indian shares. December could be a third straight month of fund outflows in India.

One IPO, of CMS Info Systems, and five listings are lined up for the coming week: Shriram Properties, MapmyIndia, Metro Brands, Medplus and Data Patterns.

Technical outlook

The Nifty50 is consolidating around crucial levels, with support at 16,900 and resistance at 17,600, according to Yesha Shah, Head of Equity Research at Samco Securities. "Traders can maintain a neutral outlook and keep tight stop losses below immediate supports for long positions," she said.

"While there is no evidence of bullish momentum, the Bank Nifty is trading at a crucial support which coincides with its rising trend line. The previous resistance level of 35,600 is now acting as a strong demand zone, thereby offering a good risk-reward opportunity on the long side... Support and resistance for Bank Nifty are now placed at 35,500 and 37,500 respectively," Shah added.

Here are the key factors and events that are likely to influence Dalal Street in the week starting December 20:

DOMESTIC CUES

RBI policy minutes

Minutes of the central bank's last bi-monthly policy review are due for a release on December 22.

IPO/listing

API maker Supriya Lifescience's Rs 700-crore IPO will close on Monday.

FII flow

Fund flow will be tracked closely. Foreign institutional investors have net sold Indian equities worth Rs 13,470 crore ($1.8 billion) so far in December.

Corporate action

GLOBAL CUES

United States

Quarterly data on GDP of the world's largest economy is due on Wednesday.

On the same day, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will publish data on crude oil stockpiles.

On Thursday, data on home sales in the US is due.

Europe

The United Kingdom will release its quarterly GDP numbers on Wednesday.

Separate data on consumer confidence in Germany and the UK will be released on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.

Asia

Hong Kong's inflation data is due on Tuesday.

Minutes of the Bank of Japan's last policy review will be out on Wednesday. Data on inflation in the country is due on Friday.