On a weekly expiry day, the index opened on a positive opening but showed profit booking and made an intraday low at 18,163.80 levels but in the second half of the session, it recovered from the day’s low and managed to close the session at 18,257.80 level with a gain of 45.45 points. While bank nifty closed the session at 38,469.96 level with a loss of 257.60 points.
At close, the Sensex was up 85.26 points or 0.14 percent at 61,235.30. The broader Nifty was up 45.50 points or 0.25 percent at 18,257.80. About 1,630 shares have advanced, 1,609 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged.
Top gainers in Nifty50 were Tata Steel (6.45 percent) and JSW Steel (4.69% percent) and top losers were Wipro (-6.02 percent) and Asian Paints (-2.47 percent). Majority of the sectoral indices ended in green with Nifty Metal (3.48 percent) being the top gainer followed by Nifty Pharma (1.57 percent).
Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities said, "The Nifty remains in an uptrend and is expected to test 19,000-19,500 levels going ahead. Any correction in the short term can be used to initiate fresh long positions. We remain positive on Metals and FMCG at current levels; Realty, IT, and Auto trade with positive bias but can be bought only on deeper corrections."
Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said,"Benchmark indices remained in green but the upside was capped as the investors were worried regarding the increase in inflation in December which was at six months high at 5.59 percent. On the technical front, the key resistance level for Nifty50 is 18,400 and on the downside 18,000 can act as strong support. Key resistance and support levels for Bank Nifty are 38,800 and 38,000 respectively."
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, "Markets extended gains for the fifth straight session, but it looks like bulls are showing signs of fatigue as trading largely remained rangebound. The Nifty has formed a Doji candlestick formation indicating indecisiveness between bulls and bears. However, the medium term texture is still positive. Direction wise, below 18,200 we can expect profit booking and post breakdown the chances of hitting 18,140-18,100 levels are bright. On the other hand, as long as the index is trading above 18,200, the uptrend will continue till 18,300-18,350."
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, "Nifty rose for the fifth straight session; however it seems to be running out of steam going by the intra day moves. While the Nifty seems headed towards the earlier high of 18,604, some correction prior to that is likely. 18,129-18,342 seems to be the band for the Nifty in near-term."
Prashant Tapse, Vice President (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said, "Nifty’s ascent towards 18,605 is on the radar. Interestingly, the gains came despite US CPI surging to the highest level since June 1982 and core CPI registering the biggest advance since 1991. The stronger readings reinforce the need for quicker interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Also, in a double whammy for the economy, India’s retail inflation rate shot up to a five month high in December and growth in factory output decelerated to a nine-month low in November. There is likely to be lots of opportunities on the buy side as long as Nifty stays above 17,889 mark. The immediate goalpost on Nifty is seen at its all-time-high at 18,605 mark."
Palak Kothari, Research Associate, Choice Broking, said, "On the technical front, the index has been trading with higher high & higher low formation for the last five days and closed above the horizontal line which suggests an upside rally in the counter. The index has formed a bullish candle on daily time frame as well as trading above Ichimoku cloud which adds strength for upside. Moreover, the index has been trading above 21&50-DMA as well as a momentum indicator MACD & STOCHASTIC are trading with a positive crossover on the daily time-frame which suggests strength in the counter. At present, the Index has support at 18,100 levels while resistance comes at 18,380 levels, crossing above the same can show 18,500-18,600 levels. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 37,800 levels while resistance at 39,000 levels."
