Last hour surge lifts Sensex, Nifty on weekly expiry day; here’s what analysts make of today’s trade

Markets struggled to find direction as it continued to wobble both sides of the line & eventually ended around 0.5% up. Image: Reuters

A smart recovery in the last hour of trade, primarily driven by buying in metal and pharma stocks, helped BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 to end near day’s high on weekly expiry day. BSE Sensex ended up 260 points or 0.53 per cent at 48,804, while the broader Nifty 50 settled at 14,481. Index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) ICICI Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) contributed the most to the indices’ gain. The broader markets underperformed the equity benchmarks. The S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settled 0.1 per cent and 0.03 per cent lower at 19,923 and 20,799.7, respectively.

Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

One more positive session witnessed today as the index closed a day at 14581 with gains of more than half per cent and formed a bullish candle for the second consecutive day. The index has formed a good base near 14460-14350 zone if managed to sustain the above-said levels we may see northward move towards 14700-14800 zone which is an immediate and strong hurdle on the higher side. The overall range for nifty is coming in between 14250 on the downside and 15k on the higher side

Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA, Consulting Technical Analyst and founder, Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services

The markets witnessed a typically weekly options expiry dominated session. The 15500 strike had maximum concentration of Call OI which shifted to 15600. This ensured NIFTY moving past 15500 but settled below the 15600 point. From the technical perspective, the Index continues to stay inside the falling channel and has halted near its short-term 20-DMA.

Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities

Domestic equities looked to be resilient amid high volatility. Benchmark indices recovered sharply from today’s low mainly led by rebound in financials and pharma indices. Auto Stocks were worst hit today mainly due to wider economic restrictions imposed in Maharashtra, which contributes over 20% of automobiles production of the country. Infosys witnessed heavy profit booking after missing street’s estimate in 4QFY21 earnings. However, strong buying was seen in other IT majors due to sustained growth prospects. Volatility index soared over 2%.

Mohit Nigam, Head, PMS & Advisory, Hem Securities

Markets struggled to find direction as it continued to wobble both sides of the line & eventually ended around 0.5% up. On the data front, WPI inflation coming in at 8-year high of 7.39% and rupee hitting a 9 month low of 75.32 are hinting at inflationary pressures & foreign outflows in the capital market. The increasing COVID-19 led restrictions in Mumbai, Delhi & Rajasthan further added jitters to the market. However, we believe that the market volatility is a knee-jerk reaction & situation is likely to improve sooner than expected. The current dips are an opportunity to add large caps from the Banking & IT sector while we remain bullish on capital goods, technology & digital space. Technically, Nifty can play in the range of 14200-14900.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Market is becoming more cautious as states are increasing restrictions due to the havoc created by the virus. Growth-oriented sectors & stocks are losing momentum while defensives like Pharma, FMCG & IT are gaining. However, states will not opt for a complete lockdown like last year, but high valuation will lead to a phase of short-term consolidation