Barring the initial hiccup on December 27, it was overall a week of consolidation as we were approached the monthly expiry as well as the end of the calendar year.

The 17,200 – 17,300 zone was seen as crucial to dictating the immediate direction. The expiry session on December 30 started on a soft note and tested intraday support of 17,150 in the opening trade itself. This small down tick was merely a formality as we saw the Nifty recover immediately to erase losses.

During the remaining part of the session, the index remained in a slender range with no clear direction. Eventually, the lacklustre session ended on a flat note, with the index staying a tad above the 17,200-mark.

On December 31, we witnessed a good broad-based buying to conclude the year on a happy note well above 17,300.

Despite some correction in the recent past, the Nifty managed to clock a gain of more than 24 percent year-on-year. With a close above 17,300, the index is likely to kick off the new year on a positive note.

As a conservative trader, one can wait for a sustainable close above 17,400, which is the higher end of the ‘Downward Sloping Channel' on the daily chart. But the way individual stocks are behaving, it is likely to happen in the coming session only. After this, the immediate levels to watch out would be around 17,550–17,700.

On the flip side, the base is shifting higher towards 17,000–16,800 before which 17,150 is to be considered as key support.

Traders are advised to trade with a positive bias as long as the index remains above the mentioned base.

The midcap index is well-poised, hence individual stocks are probably gearing up for a pre-budget rally. Let's see how things pan out and the coming week will confirm the short-term path of our markets.