The stock market indices were in the red at close of day's trading on January 18. The benchmark index witnessed profitbooking after a continued upside move and Nifty50 has retreated almost 1 percent from the day high to close at 18,113.05 while Banknifty has settled at 38,210.30 levels.
At close, the Sensex was down 554.05 points or 0.90 percent at 60,754.86. The broader Nifty was down 195.10 points or 1.07 percent at 18,113. About 1,007 shares have advanced, 2,218 shares declined, and 59 shares are unchanged.
Among top losers on the Nifty were Tata Consumer Products, Maruti Suzuki, UltraTech Cement, Eicher Motors and Tech Mahindra. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy’s Labs, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the winners on the bourses at end of trading today.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, "Markets took a break from the recent upsurge as bears took control after weak Asian and European cues prompted investors to book profit. As a result, the Nifty has formed a long bearish candle which suggests further weakness from the current levels. It has also formed a lower top formation, indicating continuation of weakness in the near future. We are of the view that the intraday formation is still weak and now 18,225-18,250 would act as an important hurdle for the day traders and below the same the correction wave could continue up to 18,050-18,020 levels. Contra traders can take long bets near 18,020 with a strict stop loss at 17,980."
Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said, "Benchmark Indices continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session led by selling in shares of Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and UltraTech Cement, among others. Nifty closing lower at 18,113 and Sensex at 60,755 amid selling trades placed in the last hour of market session today. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading in red. On the technical front, the key resistance level for Nifty50 is 18,300 and on the downside 18,000 can act as strong support. Key resistance and support levels for Bank Nifty are 38,450 and 38,100 respectively."
Sachin Gupta, AVP-Research, Choice Broking said, "Technically, the Nifty index has formed a bearish engulfing pattern, which indicates some correction in the index. A momentum indicator RSI & Stochastic has reversed from overbought territory, which suggests bearish sentiments for the coming day. On the options front, the maximum call OI is at 18,300 strike price while maximum put option OI is at 17,000 strike price followed by 18,000. However, overall market structure is bullish with positive bias so every dip would be a buying opportunity for the long term players. At present, the Index has support at 18,000 levels while resistance comes at 18,300 levels, crossing above the same can show 18500-18600 levels. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 37,800-levels while resistance at 38,600 levels."
Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said, "The consistent upmove of the last 3-4 weeks seems to have ended on Tuesday with the sharp reversal from the highs. The placement of key overhead resistance, formation of negative candle pattern and the downside breakout of immediate supports are all pointing towards more weakness in the short term. Any upside from here could find resistance around 18,225 levels and that could be a sell on rise opportunity. Next lower levels to be watched at 17,800 levels."
