Factors that will guide the markets this week

Trends in the global markets, trading activity of foreign investors and announcement of domestic macroeconomic data are the major factors that would drive investors' sentiment in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said.

Benchmark indices had a record-breaking rally in the past week driven by impressive GDP data.

Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for Mahashivratri.

"Key upcoming events, such as the release of the US services PMI on March 5, 2024, testimony by the US Fed Chair Powell, along with the US unemployment rate on March 8 will be closely watched for their potential impact on market sentiment.

"Crude oil is also inching higher, and any negative surprise from there can disturb the mood of the market. However, the market is ignoring any bad news and continuing its bullish momentum," said Santosh Meena, head of research, Swastika Investmart Ltd.

From the domestic macroeconomic front, PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) data for the services sector is scheduled to be announced on Tuesday.

"This week market will react to the global and domestic economic data, FII/DII investment pattern, crude oil inventories, movement of the rupee against the dollar and trends in global stock markets," Arvinder Singh Nanda, senior vice president, Master Capital Services Ltd, said.

Last week, the BSE benchmark climbed 663.35 points or 0.90 per cent and the Nifty jumped 165.7 points or 0.74 per cent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 60.80 points or 0.08 per cent to reach its all-time closing high of 73,806.15 on Saturday.

During the trade, the benchmark reached its record peak of 73,994.70.

The Nifty went up by 39.65 points or 0.18 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 22,378.40.

During the day, it hit the lifetime peak of 22,419.55.

Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE conducted a special trading session in the equity and equity derivative segments on Saturday to check their preparedness to handle major disruptions or failure at the primary site.

The special live trading session had an intra-day switch-over from Primary Site (PR) to Disaster Recovery (DR) site.

"The release of additional data from the US, such as PMI and payroll data, along with inflation data from China, may influence market dynamics moving forward," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.