The benchmark index continued its downside movement for the second consecutive day and made an intraday low at 17884.90 levels and closed the session below 18000 mark. Bank Nifty closed the session at 38,041.35 level with a loss of 168.95 points.
Sensex was down 656.04 points or 1.08 percent at 60,098.82. The Nifty was down 174.60 points or 0.96 percent at 17,938.40. About 1,432 shares have advanced, 1766 shares declined, and 72 shares are unchanged.
On the sectoral front, selling was seen in the FMCG, IT, PHARMA sector, while Nifty Auto, Energy ended in the green. Despite the fall, some stocks like, ONGC, Coal India, Hindalco, Tata Motors were the top gainers while Shree Cements, Asian Paints, Infosys, Hindustan Lever were prime laggards.
Among top Nifty losers were Asian Paints, Shree Cements, Infosys, Grasim Industries and HUL. Among the gainers were ONGC, Tata Motors, SBI, Coal India and UPL.
Palak Kothari, Research Associate, Choice Broking, said, "On the technical front, the index has confirmed the bearish engulfing pattern which suggests some correction can be seen in an upcoming session. However, the index has taken support from 23.6 percent RL of its previous rally which suggests breaching below the same can show downside movement. Moreover, the index has been trading below 21&50-HMA with a negative crossover as well as a momentum indicator MACD is trading with a negative crossover on an hourly time-frame which suggests weakness in the counter. At present, the Index has support at 17,800 levels while resistance comes at 18,180 levels. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 37,800 levels while resistance at 38,600 levels."
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said, Overseas factors continued to weigh on domestic stocks as weak global markets coupled with concerns that a rate hike by the US Fed could be on the cards sooner-than-expected triggered wide-spread selling for the second straight session. "The Nifty breaking the important level of 18000 and closing below the same will be largely negative for the market. The index is likely to consolidate within the range of 17,820 to 18,050. For the bulls, 17,960 would be the key level to watch for, and above the same the index could rally up to 18,000-18,050 levels. On the flip side, dismissal of 17,900 would trigger one more leg of correction up to 17,850-17,820 levels".
Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities, "Benchmarks Indices started the session in red tracking weakness in global markets and ends their session via extended their losses. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading in red. High oil prices, sustained FII outflows and the surge in cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in several countries contribute in weighted down on investors’ sentiments. On the technical front, the key resistance level for Nifty50 is 18,300 and on the downside 17,700 can act as strong support. Key resistance and support levels for Bank Nifty are 38,500 and 37,500 respectively."
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, "Nifty fell for the second consecutive session but ended a little above the intra day low. Advance decline ratio is below 1:1 but better than the previous day. If western markets stabilise today, we could see a better opening on January 20. 18,081-17,813 is the band for the Nifty in the near-term."
