Markets pare gains to end marginally higher as investors tread caution
The Nifty index opened at a gap-up note and traded into a narrow range, but during the last hours of the closing, there was some correction and the index settled at 15,772.75 or 0.17 percent. The Bank Nifty ended at 34,745-levels with a loss of 126 points.
Sensex ended on a flat note after scaling the 53,000 mark on Tuesday as investor booked profits at higher levels. After touching a lifetime intra-day peak of 53,057.11, the 30-share BSE index settled 14.25 points or 0.03 per cent higher at 52,588.71.
Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 5 percent, followed by L&T, UltraTech Cement, TCS and Titan. On the other hand, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Nestle India and HUL were among the laggards.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Auto and Cap Goods performed well with average gains of 1.5 percent a day. Also, Midcap & Small cap indices have contributed half-percent gains to support the index.
Stocks like Maruti, UPL, Shree Cement, Wipro were the top gainers, whereas Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Nestle were the prime laggards. Technically, the Nifty index has faced immediate resistance at 15,900 levels and fell down for the day.
According to Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking, on the four hourly charts, it has retreated from the Upper Band of Bollinger formation, which indicates further downside for the near term. Moreover, an oscillator Stochastic also showed negative crossover, which suggests some correction. However, on the daily chart, the index is still looking bullish, once it settles above 15,900 levels; we will see the immediate levels of 16,000/16,200. At present, the Nifty seems to have resistance at 15,900 levels while immediate support comes at 15,500 levels.
Volumes on the NSE continued to be below average for the second consecutive session as volatility in individual stocks in the large and midcap space remained low, said Deepak Jasani, Head-Retail Research, HDFC Securities. “Nifty after recovering from the lows over the past two trading sessions, reversed course and lost the intra day gains on June 22. After opening gap up, the Nifty ran into into resistance at around the 15900 level once again and later filled the morning up gap. 15,690-15,895 could be the band for the Nifty over the next few sessions even as stock specific moves (amongst lesser number of stocks) continue,” he said.
Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities, said, “if we look at the market on a closing basis, it can be called steady closing and the main reason behind this is the testimony of the Fed. Monthly / quarterly expiration is also a big trigger. 15,670/52,300 and 15800/52800 are important trading zones for the market,” he said.
