Chart: Dow hits new 5-year high, will Nifty follow suit?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a five-year high to close at 14,296 on Wednesday, topping its previous high of 14,164 made in October, 2007. The US market was hit severely by sub-prime crisis in the late 2007. This was followed by a financial melt down that started in 2008 leading to several people losing their jobs. 

So have things turned around? In recent past, ADP (Automatic Data Processing Inc) data has consistently beaten the estimates, which suggests a revival in the job market in the last six months. A string of upbeat economic data from US has been a cause for rally in equities with traders anticipating recovery in the market despite still relatively high unemployment rate, says Jamal Mecklai.

As per US government data, private companies added 198,000 jobs in February, beating analyst estimates, indicating that the labour market is continuing to thaw. Economists had predicted the count by ADP and Moody's Analytics to show 170,000 new positions, reports CNBC.

As the chart below suggests, the Nifty has been moving in tandem with the US market. The outlook has turned cautious after the rather bruising sell-off, but analysts valuations have become reasonable and so should cushion further downside.