After a selloff for five consecutive days, Indian markets ended marginally lower on Thursday despite mixed global cues after Swiss lender Credit Suisse announced plans to boost its liquidity. However, Sensex and Nifty 50 ended with marginal gains. Banking stocks recovered, while metal stocks saw heavy selling pressure. The broader market seems to be losing money in smallcap stocks. However, investors remain on edge regarding the turmoil in banks globally.
The Sensex closed at 57,634.84, up 78.94 points or 0.14%. While the Nifty 50 closed at 16,985.60 with a gain of 13.45 points or 0.08%.
Nestle was the top performer on the Sensex with a gain of 2.5%. Whereas Asian Paints extended its rally by over 2.3%. HUL, Titan, Sun Pharma and Power Grid were also among the top gainers, rising between 1.6% and 2.2%.
In banking and financial socks, State Bank Of IndiaBajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank gained momentum with gains of around one per cent each.
Top losers were— Tata Steel down 3.3%, IndusInd Bank down 2.6%, and Bharti Airtel down 1.4%.
In the broader market, BSE Smallcap dropped over 188 points. While the midcap index declined marginally. The BSE Sensex Next 50 climbed nearly 358 points, showing a significant increase in the upside.
In terms of sectoral indices, on BSE, metal indices restricted gains to emerge as top losers. The index saw a decline of over 527 points. While IT and consumer durables index fell by 207 points and 106 points respectively. In contrast, BSE Bankex rose by around 134 points.
Ajit Mishra, VP Technical Research at Religare Broking said, “Market traded volatile and closed almost unchanged taking a sigh of relief after recent losses. Initially the tone was negative but rebound in select heavyweights helped Nifty Ltd. helped counter losses and closed flat.Meanwhile, sectoral indices witnessed a mixed trend, with FMCG, energy and pharma trading up, while metal and IT traded weak.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee weakened against the US dollar for the fourth consecutive day amid outflow of foreign funds and mixed sentiment at counterparts. The local unit closed at 82.77 against the dollar against the previous day’s 82.65.
On Thursday, Credit Suisse said it would borrow up to CHF 50 billion from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) under a covered loan facility as well as a short-term liquidity facility. This prompted the Swiss lender’s stock to rally more than 32% on the day. Along with this, there was some boom in the European markets as well.
Going forward, Mishra said, “Global cues are still mixed, however existence of oversold positions and support around 16,800 in Nifty could lead to a pullback towards 17200 area. Adding that, participants should not go overboard and Positions should not be limited to those stocks which are showing relatively higher strength.”
On Nifty 50, Rupak Dey, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities said, “Nifty took support at the lower band of the falling channel before moving higher. On the daily chart, a long legged Doji pattern has formed, indicating indecision.” Further, the index has found support around previous rally. In near term, the stock is likely to move higher towards 17250. On the lower side, closing base support is seen at 16950.”
While on Bank Nifty, Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivatives Analyst, LKP Securities said, “Bank Nifty index saw some buying from lower levels on the weekly closing day, however the undertone remains bearish till it trades above 40,000 level.” says the bottom. The index’s immediate hurdle is 39,500 and if sustains above it, it may see some short covering towards 40,000. Downside support lies at 38500 and a breach below this will add further selling pressure.
Markets will focus on the ECB’s monetary policy meeting tonight.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given above are of individual analysts or broking companies and not of Mint. We advise investors to do due diligence with certified experts before making any investment decision.
Know your inner investor
Do you have guts of steel or are you a victim of insomnia regarding your investments? Let’s define your investment approach.
catch all business News, market news, today’s fresh news events and Breaking News Update on Live Mint. download mint news app To get daily market updates.