Stock market watch: What to expect from the week ending July 23, 2021 SECTIONS Last Updated: Jul 19, 2021, 06:30 AM IST Share Synopsis Closing above 15,900 for the last two days of last week shows its inherent strength and indicates that the Nifty is now shifting to a higher range. We expect tiles and plastic pipe manufacturers to deliver a weak performance q-o-q as the second wave hit sales of both. Long-term demand outlook is positive for tile and pipe manufacturers. Finally, an upward breakout: After remaining in a 15,450-15,900 range for several weeks, Nifty finally broke out on the upside as expected (see chart). The stock market usually ‘climbs the wall of worry’ and it was no different this time. While doctors and economists are worried about the fallout of a covid third wave, the market is going up because this fear is resulting in increased money flows. For instance, the fear of a third wave is keeping the US Federal Reserve from carrying out early rate hike; despite the fact that inflation in the US saw its biggest jump in 13 years and the US jobless claims fell and hit a new low since the pandemic started. Stable crude oil price, on the hope that Opec will use its spare capacity and won’t allow crude to reach much higher levels, also helped the stock market sentiments.