What in your view are the major triggers for the stock markets for the week starting on 21st February?

Here are some of the major triggers and cues for the coming week.

· Nifty fell 0.57% during the week with losses seen mainly in financials. The focus this week will be on bond yields and inflation. Also, the VIX has shot up last week to above 22 amidst the Ukrainian crisis uncertainty.

· It will be a week of minutes. Fed minutes committed to a 50 bps rate hike in March but has kept wiggle room open after that. However, RBI MPC minutes on 24-Feb will the key in gauging RBI hawkishness this week.

· The Russia/Ukraine crisis is worsening and the Iran deal looks still some time away. That would mean more pressure on Crude already at $93/bbl. Now expect sharp price hikes in petrol and diesel post-elections.

· Big event is the F&O expiry on 24-February with a focus on how long positions get rolled over and whether fresh shorts are initiated. This is a worry with FPIs having sold Rs.15,342 crore in equities in Feb-22 and Rs.48,645 crore in the Year 2022 so far.

· As the state of UP goes into Phase 4 and Phase 5 of polls markets are jittery ahead of the 14-Mar election outcome. With the LIC IPO expecting more details in the coming week and the liquidity sucking, Nifty options are indicating a wide range of 16,800 to 17,600.

· Key data points from US markets this week include House Price Index, PMI, MBA Purchase Index, Redbook, API crude stocks, Q4 GDP (P), jobless claims. For other markets, focus on EU PMI, Core CPI, M3; Japan PMI, BOJ core CPI, foreign bond buys, leading NDX; China House prices.