Markets showed a very muted performance in today's trading session, staying at a very flattish zone throughout the day. There was profit-taking towards the closing hours as markets erased most of its early gains to end a tad higher from its previous close. The Sensex was up 32.02 points or 0.05 percent at 60718.71. The broader Nifty was up 6.70 points or 0.04 percent at 18109.50. About 1218 shares have advanced, 2038 shares declined, and 145 shares are unchanged.
Banknifty closed at 38,702.35 with a marginal loss of 0.08 percent in a day. On the sectoral front, Nifty Pharma, FMCG & IT have contributed gains in the nifty index while METAL & PSUBANK witnessed some profit booking and closed in the red. Stocks like POWERGRID, CIPLA, ITC & ONGC were the top gainers while COALINDIA, TATASTEEL, HINDALCO were the prime laggards for the day.
Gaurav Udani, CEO & Founder, ThincRedBlu Securities said, "The Nifty traded in a small range today. After making a high of 18,210, it closed at 18,109 , up by 6 points since yesterdays close. Aggressive traders can consider buy on dips with strict stoploss. Conservative traders should wait for a bullish confirmation with higher than average volumes before initiating new longs . Nifty has support in 18,050 - 18,950 range and resistance at 18,200-18,250 range."
Mohit Nigam, Head-PMS, Hem Securities said, "The day was marked by the strong listing gains showcased by Sigachi Industries listing at gains of about 270 percent from the issue price of Rs. 163 and ending the debut trading day at Rs. 598.50. Among the other IPO's PolicyBazaar debuted with gains of 22.7% while SJS Enterprises with a loss of 5.8 percent. Also ONGC declared results after market hours on Friday and posted the highest-ever quarterly profits by an Indian corporate ever, profits stood at 18,749 crores on back of adoption of change in corporate tax scheme. Also wholesale inflation numbers were out for the month of October and reported a 12.54 percent rise on YoY basis.
"The European markets also stayed at a very flattish note in the opening session. The crude oil also saw a minor correction as US President Joe Biden faced calls for tapping the strategic petroleum reserves to tackle the surging gas station prices in the US. Since markets are consolidating around the 18,100 zone for quite some time, suggesting good entry points in quality stocks for a long-term basis," Nigam added.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd., said, "On daily charts, Nifty has formed a small bearish candle, which indicates temporary weakness. However, at the same time, the index has been consistently taking support near the 20 days SMA. Also, the index has maintained a higher bottom formation which is broadly positive. We are of the view that the 20 days SMA would act as a trend decider level for the bulls, and above the same, the uptrend formation could continue up to 18,200-18,275 levels. On the other hand, the dismissal of 18,040 or 20 days SMA could possibly open another correction wave till 18,000-17,925."
Sachin Gupta, AVP, Research, Choice Broking said, "After a positive opening, the benchmark index wiped out its early gains, made low at 18071.30, and settled at 18109.45 while Technically, the Nifty index moved above the prior swing highs and settled above Middle Bollinger Band formation on the daily chart. Moreover, the index has also shifted above 21-days SMA, which adds positive strength for the coming day. A momentum indicator RSI (14) & Stochastic also suggested positive crossover on the daily timeframe. At present, the Index has immediate support at 18000 levels while resistance comes at 18,350 levels."
