Buy or sell stocks: Following weak global cues, the Indian stock market continued to trade sideways for the second straight session. The Nifty 50 index ended 41 points lower at 24,812, the BSE Sensex shed 138 points and closed at 81,444, while the Bank Nifty index finished 114 points higher at 55,828. Despite the broader negative trend, IndusInd Bank, Titan, and Trent emerged as the top performers on the Nifty, showcasing resilience. Conversely, TCS, Adani Ports, and Hindustan Unilever bore the brunt of significant selling pressure, concluding the session as major losers. Trading volumes on the NSE cash market were 13% lower compared to the previous session. Nifty Media, IT, and Metal witnessed the most significant declines among the sectors. In contrast, Nifty Consumer Durables, Private Banks, and Auto managed to end the day in the green, showing pockets of strength.
The Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap Indices continued their downward journey for the second day in a row. The Nifty Mid-cap 100 Index fell by 0.46%, while the Nifty Small-cap 100 Index corrected 0.23%. Market breadth remained weak for the fifth consecutive day, with declining stocks outpacing advancing ones, as indicated by a BSE advance-decline ratio of 0.63.
Vaishali Parekh, Vice President of Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, believes the Indian stock market closely follows the news of the Israel-Iran war. The Prabhudas Lilladher expert said the Nifty 50 index is facing an immediate hurdle at 24,950 to 25,000 levels while it has immediate support at 24,800.
Speaking on the outlook of the Nifty 50 today, Vaishali Parekh said, "The Nifty 50 index, after witnessing a volatile morning session, gave in with profit booking seen from the 24,950 zone and ended the session near the 24,800 level with the bias and sentiment precariously placed on the back of ongoing geo-political tensions. As mentioned earlier, the index would need to sustain above the crucial support zone at the 24,500 level and, simultaneously, need a decisive move above the 25,200 level to anticipate a further fresh upward move."
"The Bank Nifty index amid the volatile session failed to move past the hurdle band of 55,800-56,000 levels and closed near the 55,800 zone with overall bias maintained with a cautious approach is expected to take cue from the US FED meeting outcome to anticipate for fresh developments in the coming sessions. The index has been precariously placed and would need a decisive move above the 56,000 zone, as mentioned earlier, to turn the bias positive and, at the same time, would need to sustain the near-term support positioned near the 55,000 level to maintain the overall trend intact," said Parekh.
Parekh said that today, the Nifty's support is 24,600, while the resistance is 25,000. The Bank Nifty would have a daily range of 55,400-56,400.
Regarding stocks to buy today, Vaishali Parekh recommended these three buy or sell stocks: Reliance Power, IndusInd Bank, and Graphite India.
1] Reliance Power: Buy at ₹66, Target ₹73, Stop Loss ₹63;
2] IndusInd Bank: Buy at ₹850, Target ₹880, Stop Loss ₹835; and
3] Graphite India: Buy at ₹550, Target ₹585, Stop Loss ₹530.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
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