Technical analysts expect the index to face immediate resistance at 17,900-18,000, which, if broken, could decisively take the index beyond 18,200

Seven of the top-10 most valued firms together added Rs 67,859.77 crore in market valuation in a holiday-shortened last week, with ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank emerging as the biggest gainers.
Last week, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 598.03 points or 0.99 per cent.
Equity markets were closed on Friday (April 14) on account of Ambedkar Jayanti.
From the top-10 pack, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, ITC, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel were the winners, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Unilever and Infosys were the laggards.
The market valuation of ICICI Bank jumped Rs 17,188.25 crore to Rs 6,27,940.23 crore.
HDFC Bank’s valuation rallied Rs 15,065.31 crore to Rs 9,44,817.85 crore.
The market valuation of HDFC climbed Rs 10,557.84 crore to Rs 5,11,436.51 crore and that of ITC zoomed Rs 10,190.97 crore to Rs 4,91,465.96 crore.
Reliance Industries market capitalisation (mcap) surged Rs 9,911.59 crore to Rs 15,93,736.01 crore.
The mcap of State B

WPI inflation data for March, quarterly earnings, global trends and foreign fund trading activity are major factors that will drive equity markets this week, analysts said.
Investors would also focus on the movement of crude oil prices and the trend in the rupee against the US dollar.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation data for March would be released on Monday.
“Trend in global markets, domestic and global macroeconomic data, crude oil prices and movement of the rupee against the dollar will dictate the trend this week,” said Arvinder Singh Nanda, Senior Vice President, Master Capital Services Ltd.
HCL Technologies, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Coffee and Tata Communications are some of the major firms that will announce their quarterly earnings this week.
“Focus will be on earnings and global markets for cues. On the earnings front, participants will first react to Infosys and HDFC Bank’s numbers in early trade on Monday,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd, .

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