The benchmark indices ended the day’s session on a negative note after a positive start and strong buying interest witnessed in PSU Banking Stocks with Nifty PSU Banks closing 2.05 percent up and Nifty 50 ending 0.31 percent down.The Banknifty corrected more than 300 points or 0.85 percent to close at 40,874.35 levels during the day.
Sensex was down 206.93 points or 0.34 percent at 61,143.33. The Nifty was down 57.40 points or 0.31 percent at 18211.00. About 1,672 shares have advanced, 1378 shares declined, and 109 shares are unchanged.
On the sectoral front, Nifty IT, PSUBANK and PHARMA were leading for the day while METAL, AUTO and ENERGY have shown profit booking. Stocks like, ASIANPAINTS, UPL, DIVISLAB & INFOSYS were the top performers while AXISBANK, BAJFINANCE, ONGC were the prime laggards.
Asian Paints, UPL, Divis Labs, Infosys and Cipla were among the major Nifty gainers. Losers included Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Tata Motors and Bajaj Finserv.
Gaurav Udani, CEO & Founder, ThincRedBlu Securities, said, "Since the last few trading sessions, Nifty has been making lower Highs and lower lows , which is a bearish sign. Nifty closed negative by 100 points at 18,170 after taking resistance at 18,340. Nifty has support in 17,980 - 18,020 range and resistance in 18,320-18,340 range. Traders are advised to be cautious in long positions and maintain strict stoploss."
Sachin Gupta, AVP, Research, Choice Broking said, "Technically, the Index has been trading in a bullish trend with Higher Highs and Higher Lows formation that suggests a bullish strength for the long term. On a four hourly chart, the index has traded above the Horizontal Line, which indicates a further support zone. Furthermore, the index has been trading with a positive crossover of 9*21 Moving Average, which can be considered a Bullish Crossover which shows a Bullish movement in the counter. At present, the Index has immediate support at 18,000 levels while resistance comes at 18,380 levels."
Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, "The short term trend of Nifty remains choppy and the attempt of upside bounce from the support is lacking its strength. A sustainable move only above 18300-18350 is likely to open further upside for the market ahead. Further weakness from here could find the next lower support at 18K levels."
Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities said, "Nifty traded with a positive bias for the medium term and is expected to test 18,700-19,000 levels. Since we are closer to medium-term targets advise leverage and aggression moderation for a long time. Support on the downside is seen at 17,800-levels with buying on aggressive corrections advisable. Banking remains in momentum while IT and Cement stocks look attractive. Midcap stocks witnessed give up in the momentum and are expected to underperform in the near term."
Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities, said, "Japan's Nikkei share average recovered from early declines to end Wednesday little changed as strong earnings supported the market despite overall caution ahead of a parliamentary election on the weekend. IT, pharma and FMCG stocks gained on NSE. Metals, media, and Private banks sectors declined. In the 50-share pack Nifty, Asian Paints was the biggest gainer, up 4.20 percent. UPL, Divis Labs and Cipla were among other gainers. Axis Bank was the top loser in the pack, down 6.46 percent. Bajaj Finance, ONGC and Tata Motors were other losers in the pack."
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said, "After a strong pullback rally, profit taking came to the fore in a volatile market and benchmark Nifty took resistance near the 18,350 level. Technically, the index has formed a small bearish candle near the 18,350 resistance level but at the same time, on intraday charts it has maintained higher bottom series formation. Ahead of monthly F&O expiry, volatility may continue, hence level based trading would be the ideal strategy for day traders. For the bulls, 18,100 would be the key support level and if the index breaches the level, there is a strong possibility of a quick intraday pullback rally up to 18,300-18,350 levels. On the other hand, dismissal of 18,100 could possibly open another round of correction wave up to 18,060-18,000."
