It seems Nifty will make one more attempt to breach the psychological 18,000 points. The market is likely to begin on a flat note on Monday amid mixed cues from global markets. However, analysts expect the market move in a narrow range wtih a downward bias due to inflationary worries and stretched valuation. According to them, global cues and second quarter results from India Inc will dictate the market direction, going forward.

According to Hemant Kanawala, Head – Equity, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Co. Ltd, India’s domestic growth drivers remain intact with higher vaccination rate and government policy support creating levers for quicker normalisation of economic activity especially for services sector.

SGX Nifty at 17,920 indicates a flat-to-positive opening for Nifty, as Nifty October futures on Friday closed at 17,900. Asia Pacific markets are mixed in early deal with Japan, China and Hong Kong markets are up even as Australia and Korea are down.

RBI’s dovish policy

RBI's assured financial markets of accommodative policy till the growth stabilises and exit from easy monetary policy will be in a gradual, calibrated and non-disruptive way, he said adding that "However, higher commodity prices caused by supply side disruptions in China and elevated energy prices especially that of crude and natural gas are risks that need to be watched out for as they may keep core inflation prints sticky for longer time".

Santosh Meena, Swastika Investmart, said: The Q2 earnings season has started with TCS' results which is a minor miss on expectations and we could see some profit booking in the IT sector as IT stocks have rallied a lot in expectation of strong earnings however any correction will be a buying opportunity.

"As Infosys, Wipro, and HCL tech will come out with their numbers this week therefore we are going to see lots of volatility in the market, especially in the IT sector".