After a gap-up opening, the benchmark index slipped around 230 points while Bank Nifty settled at 39,402.05 with a loss of 536.40 points. On the sectoral front, Realty and Metals were top gainers while Banking, Auto and Finance Service sectors were top losers.
At close, the Sensex was down 257.14 points or 0.43 percent at 59,771.92. The broader Nifty was down 59.80 points or 0.33 ercent at 17,829.20. About 1509 shares have advanced, 1662 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged.
Stocks like L&T, Grasim, UPL, UltraTech Cements and Asian Paints were among majoar Nifty gainers while Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank were the laggards.
Gaurav Udani, CEO & Founder, ThincRedBlu Securities, said, "Since the last few trading sessions, the Nifty has been making lower highs and lower lows, which is a bearish sign. Nifty closed negative by 60 points at 17,830 after taking resistance at 17,990. Nifty has support in 17,800 - 17,650 range and resistance in 17,950-18,050 range. Traders are advised to be cautious in long positions and maintain strict stoploss."
Uday Kotak said, "From Samvat to Samvat, market has performed outstandingly for investors. "
Palak Kothari, Research Associate, Choice Broking, "On the technical front, the index has taken resistance from 21 DMA,which suggests some correction can be seen in upcoming days. Moreover, the momentum indicator stochastic is witnessed with a negative crossover indicating a downtrend. The index has settled below the Super Trend indicator indicating further weakness. Also, the index has settled below the Middle Bollinger Band. At present, the index has an immediate support of 17,700 and a resistance of 18,050 levels."
Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities, said, "Good buying is seen in realty and capital goods stocks while some selling pressure is seen in Auto and Banking stocks. SBI hit a record high today after strong Q2 FY22 numbers. Mazagon Dock surged 7 percent after handing over a destroyer to the Indian Navy. IOC announces plans for setting up electric charging stations across India. Sunpharma (-) 3.37 percent and IndusInd Bank (-) 2.85 percent were among the top losers in Nifty 50 today.
"After opening on a positive note markets showed sideways movement today and trade in red after major global indices trading negative ahead of the FOMC meeting. Tapering of asset purchase program is expected from FED meeting and any indications of faster rate of tapering may be negative for global Indices. On the technical front 17,700 and 18,000 are near term support and resistance in Nifty 50 respectively," added Nigam.
Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities, said, "The Nifty has entered a corrective phase and is expected to remain under pressure for the short term. Resistance is expected around 18,000-18,100 levels while we see value around the 17,000-17,200 mark. We would advise traders to keep a check on leverage positions while investors can use deeper correction to accumulate frontline stocks. IT and metals can be accumulated on corrections."
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said, "Benchmark indices witnessed profit booking because of weak global market cues and stretched valuations. Benchmark Nifty found resistance near 18,000 and corrected sharply. The index has been consistently trading below 20 day SMA and on intraday charts it has also formed a lower top formation near 18000, which is broadly negative for the market. However, as long as it’s trading above 17,750 the uptrend texture is intact. We are of the view that 17,750 would act as a key support level for the day traders, and above the same we can expect one more intraday upmove up to 17,900-17,975 levels. On the flip side, trading below 17,750 could possibly trigger one more round of correction wave up to 17,700-17,660."
