8216;Stock mkts to be range-bound this week8217;

Food inflation fell sharply to a four-year low of 1.81 per cent for the week ended December 10 from 4.35 per cent in the previous week,which raised hopes that overall inflation might dip as well and prompt the Reserve Bank to start cutting interest rates to revive sagging economic growth.

Moody8217;s Investors Service raised India8217;s local currency debt rating by one level to investment grade from the highest junk grade in the past week,boosting the market sentiment.

However,experts feel trading volumes will be subdued,as most investors will prefer to remain on the sidelines toward the end of the year. Nevertheless,the overall tone of trade will remain upbeat.

8220;Stock markets are already down and nothing worse can happen this week. All eyes will be on the derivatives expiry on Thursday. Some rally is possible for a change as markets are extremely oversold on one hand and on the other,US markets are showing marked improvement,8221; CNI Research CMD Kishore P Ostwal said.

Analysts also said investors will prefer to refrain from aggressive adjustments and make fresh investments in the New Year.

8220;The holiday mood has set in the market,which is why it is likely to see range-bound trading and will see a significant movement only after the foreign funds will get fresh allocations in the New Year,8221; Geojit BNP Paribas Research Head Alex Matthews said.

Marketmen said the stock markets may see a gap-up opening on Monday,following the rally in the US stock market on Friday,with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising by 1 per cent.

8220;For the coming week,market is expected to remain choppy in the range of 4,630 and 4,850,8221; Kotak Securities Senior Vice-President Equity Research Shrikant Chouhan said.

Market observers opined that the lack of any major domestic and global cues would result in the market hovering in more or less the same range in the last week of the calendar year,though a higher close will be a positive end to a difficult year.

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