For the first time in six trading sessions, the Nifty 50 index closed above the 18,000 mark on Tuesday. Additionally, after three consecutive sessions of making lower highs, the index has now made three straight higher highs.

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The market has now oscillated between gains and losses for the last four trading sessions. The Nifty 50 more than recovered Monday's losses, not only ending Tuesday's session close to a percent higher, but also ending near the day's high.

Gains on the Nifty 50 on Tuesday were led by index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and the HDFC Twins, all of which moved higher in the last hour on trade.

Today's session will see earnings reaction from stocks like ICICI Lombard and ICICI Prudential, along with F&O names like Delta Corp. IndusInd Bank is the only Nifty 50 constituent that will report earnings during market hours while non-index names like Persistent Systems, Rallis India and Central Bank of India will report results today.

While the index is on the verge of a breakout, Jai Bala of cashthechaos.com has a differing opinion. He believes that the bounce seen in the market currently is a very weak one. "I expect this counter trend bounce to push the markets somewhere close to 18,250-18,400. However, if the market for some reason falters before 18,140 and breaks 17,850, then you need to be extremely cautious because the market has a high probability of accelerating lower," he said.

What do the charts suggest for Dalal Street?

According to Rupak De of LKP Securities, the Nifty 50 index has given a falling wedge breakout, indicating rising optimism. The RSI momenum indicator has also given a breakout from a falling trendline. De expects the current technical setup to take the Nifty 50 index to levels of 18,250 - 18,270.

The Nifty 50 has closed above its 11-day exponential moving average, according to Nandish Shah of HDFC Securities. The fact that the index is making higher highs and higher lows is a sign of accumulation. Shah expects the Nifty 50 to find resistance anywhere between 18,141 and 18,265. "Any move above 18,265, will negate the positional downtrend in the Nifty," he said.

The Nifty Bank index ended flat on Tuesday, underperforming the benchmarks. Kunal Shah of LKP Securities sees the index stuck in a broad 900-point range of 41,800 and 42,700. He sees immediate resistance for the index at 42,400, a level that the index has to sustain above which the momentum can be maintained.

Here are key things to know about the market ahead of the January 18 trading session:

SGX Nifty

On Wednesday, Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures — an early indicator of the Nifty 50 index — increased 46 points or 0.25 percent to 18,122, thereby pointing to a positive opening for the market.

Global Markets

Benchmark indices on Wall Street ended mostly lower to start the truncated week on a negative note. The Dow Jones shed 400 points after a four-day rally, while the S&P 500 ended with losses of 0.2 percent.

However, the Nasdaq ended 0.1 percent higher after a two-day drop. Most of the pressure on the Dow came from Goldman Sachs, which fell over 6 percent after its worst earnings miss in a decade in Q4.

What to expect on Dalal Street

The Nifty 50 has closed near its 20-day moving average, which has not been crossed since mid-December. A breakout above these levels can take the index to 18,142, 18,200, and 18,330, according to Ruchit Jain of 5paisa.com. Another positive sign is the RSI oscillator, which has given a positive crossover. He sees immediate support for the index at 17,920 and 17,850.

Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities has observed the formation of a long bull candle on Nifty 50's daily chart, which has engulfed the negative candle of Monday's session. According to him, the underlying short-term trend of the index is positive and a decisive upside breakout above the triangle range of 18,100 can open doors for further upside.

Key levels to watch out for

For tomorrow's weekly options expiry, the Nifty 50's 18,250 strike call has added 8.2 lakh shares in Open Interest, followed by the 18,200 call, which has added 6.5 lakh shares.

On the downside, the 18,000 strike put has added 40 lakh shares in Open Interest, while the 17,800 put has added 33.74 lakh shares in Open Interest.

Nifty 50's put-call ratio is back above the mark of 1, rising to 1.16 from 0.8 on Friday.

Delta Corp, which will be reacting to its December quarter results has entered the F&O ban period, along with Manappuram Finance. GNFC, Indiabulls Housing and L&T Finance continue to remain in the F&O ban.

FII/DII activity

Long build-up (Increase in price and Open Interest)

Short build-up (Decrease in price and Increase in Open Interest)

Short Covering (Increase in price and Decrease in Open Interest)