Nifty Ends Lackluster Trade Amid Caution over Q4 Earnings and Volatility

At the close, the Nifty 50 was at 17,624.45 up by 0.03%

The NSE Nifty 50 began the day on a high note before experiencing a dip, but ultimately recovered to finish in the green with a 0.03% gain. Notably, the Nifty index ended above the 17600 level.

Commencing with a flat note, the Nifty remained range-bound throughout the trading day and closed marginally above the opening level, gaining around 6 points. As per the daily charts, the Nifty has been consolidating within the broad range of 17500-17800 for the past four trading sessions.

Trading around the 200-day moving average of 17596, the index is currently absorbing selling pressure and is restricted from further drift. Despite the fresh negative crossover on the daily momentum indicator, we believe it is due to sideways price action in the past few sessions. Unless the Nifty breaches the critical support zone of 17550-17500, we assign less importance to this sell signal. During this consolidation phase, we can expect sector rotation and stock-specific price movements. The range of consolidation is likely to remain between 17500-17800 for the next few trading sessions.

Bank Nifty: Up by 0.27%

Opening in the green, the Bank Nifty witnessed a 0.27% rise and concluded in the green, settling at 42,269.50. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex experienced a 0.11% increase and ended the day on a positive note, achieving a high of 59,632.35.

Selective buying in financials, telecom, and utility stocks brought an end to the 3-day losing streak in the markets. While the market had witnessed significant gains in the past week, the recent selling pressure from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and indications of a hawkish stance from global central banks have prompted traders to exercise caution.

The pharma index and realty index witnessed declines of 1% and 0.5%, respectively, while capital goods, power, infrastructure, and banking sectors saw notable buying activity.

Bank Nifty

The Nifty Banking sector had some gainers and some losers for the day.

The gainers included Bandhan Bank with a 1.24% increase, State Bank of India with a 0.75% increase, IndusInd Bank with a 0.57% increase, HDFC Bank with a 0.44% increase, and AU Bank with a 0.40% increase. On the other hand, the biggest losers in the sector included Axis Bank with a 0.26% decline, and Punjab National Bank with a 0.10% decline. These results suggest that some banking stocks performed better for the day.

Buzzing

Following underwhelming performances from TCS and Infosys, investors are eagerly anticipating HCL Technologies’ fourth-quarter earnings report, set to release on Thursday, April 20th.

The current focus of the market is on the ongoing Q4 earnings season, which has been plagued by a negative bias, primarily stemming from lower-than-anticipated initial results, particularly within the IT sector. Adding to the negative sentiment is the lack of support from the global market, due to expectations of another rate hike and mixed earnings reports from the US. As a result, the overall market trend has been impacted by cautious global sentiment, resulting in withdrawal by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) throughout the week. The prevailing market conditions suggest that investors should remain vigilant and exercise caution while making investment decisions.

Buzz

On Thursday, the Indian rupee managed to snap a three-day losing streak, primarily due to the appreciation of most Asian currencies against the US dollar. However, the rupee’s performance remains subject to upcoming US data releases and Federal Reserve commentary. The rupee concluded the day’s trading at 82.1475 per US dollar, as compared to the previous session’s closing rate of 82.2250, with a decline of approximately 0.45% over the past three days.

During Asian trade on Thursday, oil prices experienced a decline as the US dollar exhibited strength in the wake of rate-hike expectations. Furthermore, recent economic data releases from both the US and China have failed to bolster expectations of an increase in demand, contributing to the downward trend in oil prices.

The Brent crude futures market experienced a decline of 1.48%, reaching $81.99 per barrel. In addition, West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures exhibited a similar trend, dropping 1.63% to $77.94 per barrel.

Advance Decline Ratio

Today, the advance-decline ratio was 1.08, and the market breadth was positive. The volatility index India Vix decreased by 1.74 percent to settle at 11.94 and the FIIs were net sellers today.

DAILY MARKET ACTION
Advancers – 1161
Decliners – 1079
52Wk High –  53
52Wk Low – 12
High Band Hitters – 70
Low Band Hitters – 40
200d SMA – 17578
50d SMA – 17509
20d SMA – 17390

Top Gainers and Losers Stocks

The top gainers were NTPC (+1.50%), Adani Ports (+1.46%), Asian Paint (+1.43%), Bajaj Auto (+1.34%), and Tata Motors (+1.30%).

The top losers were Divi’s Laboratories (-4.03%), Hindustan Unilever (-1.52%), Dr. Reddy (-1.21%), Eicher Motors (-1.20%), and Hindalco (-1.03%).

Top Gainers and Losers Sector

The top gainers sectors were Consumer Durables (+0.36%), Auto (+0.23%), Media (+0.20%), and Financial Services (+0.12%).

The top losers sectors were Pharma (-1.11%), Realty (-0.43%), Metal (-0.39%), FMCG (-0.36%), and Oil & Gas (-0.24%).

The Nifty Midcap 50 was up by 0.16 percent, while the Nifty Small Cap 50 was up by 0.04 percent on the day.

The Nifty Midcap 50 index currently closed at 8,767.10, while the Nifty Small Cap 50 index currently closed at 4,278.90.

SECTORS – NOTABLE ACTION
CONSUMER DURABLES +0.36%
AUTO +0.23%
MEDIA +0.20%
PHARMA -1.11%
REALTY -0.43%
METAL -0.39%

Stocks Ban List

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has not included any stock in the ban list for futures and options trading.

A stock enters the Ban List if its MWPL is above 95%. Implying that, Ban List shows the Futures and Options (FnO ) stocks whose combined open interest in all FnO contracts for a given period crosses 95% of Market-Wide Position Limit.

IBULHSGFIN and ZEEL have the possibility of being added to the ban list.

Daily Pivots

As per the above pivots data, 17570 to 17690 is the Nifty 50 trading range.

Read previous -Daily Insights- here
Weak IT Earnings Lead Nifty to Settle Lower for 3rd Day
Indices Under Pressure for Second Straight Day
Nifty Benchmark Slips Under Bears’ Grip with Hanging Man Pattern

This article is only for educational purposes and is not an investment advice.