The benchmark indices ended lower today. Nifty 50 declined 0.09 percent and Sensex declined 0.19 percent today. Good buying was seen in Auto (NIFTY Auto: +1.03 percent) and Oil & Gas (NIFTY OIL & GAS: +0.83 percent) stocks while some selling pressure was seen in Banking (NIFTY BANK: -0.18 percent) and FMCG (NIFTY FMCG: -0.33 percent) stocks.
The Sensex was down 112.16 points or 0.19 percent at 60,433.4. The broader Nifty was down 24.20 points or 0.13 percent at 18,044.30. About 1958 shares have advanced, 1269 shares declined, and 162 shares are unchanged.
Among the sectors, FMCG and metals are under pressure while the Auto, midcap and smallcap indices added 0.5-1 a percent each. Stocks like M&M, Tata Motors, Hero Motor, SBI, and ONGC were the top gainers. Britannia, HDFC Bank and NTPC were the prime laggards.
Gaurav Udani, CEO & Founder, ThincRedBlu Securities, said, "Nifty traded in a sideways range today. It closed at 18,051, down by 17 points. Nifty is currently trading near is 20 period moving average and it is important for Nifty to close above 18,100 with higher than average volumes. Nifty will face resistance in 18,200 to 18,300 range and has support at 17,950 and 17,800 levels."
Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said, "Britannia Industries reported a 23 per cent year-on-year decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 384.22 crore and revenue rose 5.5 per cent on-year to Rs 3,607.40 crore for the quarter. The company is expected to increase price hike by 7.5 percent in Q3 (which stood at 4 percent in Q2) and 10% percent in Q4 to cover inflation over the next few quarters. Praj Industries has inked a MoU with Indian Oil Corporation to explore production of Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) fuels, 1G & 2G Ethanol, Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) and related opportunities in the Biofuels industry. M&M (+5.24 percent) and Tata Motors (+1.91 percent) were among the top gainers and Britannia (-2.60 percent) and HDFC Bank (-1.70 percent) were among the top losers in Nifty 50 today. On the technical front 17,850 and 18,200 are near term support and resistance in Nifty 50 respectively," Nigam added.
Palak Kothari, Research Associate, Choice Broking said, "After a positive opening, the index made an intraday low at 17,983.05 level but recovered from there and managed to close at 18,044.25 level with a moderate loss of 24 points. On the technical front, the index was managing to trade above 21 HMA and closed above the same suggested strength in the counter. Daily Momentum indicator Stochastic is trading with a positive crossover which suggests upside momentum in the upcoming session. Furthermore, the index has been trading above the middle Bollinger band, which adds bullishness in the index. At present, the Nifty has immediate support at 17,900 while resistance comes at 18,200 levels."
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, "The Nifty ended the day almost flat in line with most other markets. Nifty crossed the high of the previous day but there was no follow through upmove. A move above 18,115-18,125 band could lead to more upsides while 17,947-17,970 is a support band for the Nifty in the near-term."
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said, "Technically, 18,100 would be the sacrosanct breakout level for the bulls, and above the same the index could move up to 18,150-18,190 levels. On the other hand, 17,940 could act as an important support level for the day traders, and below the same the index could possibly see another correction wave up to 17,900-17,850."
