After The Bell: Market continues to consolidate, what should investors do on Monday?

Flagship indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended mixed on June 18 in light of mixed global cues as sentiment remained fragile after the US Fed hinted that it was getting ready for rate hikes by 2023 and discussing how to gradually taper the bond-buying programme.

The Indian market continued witnessing volatility for the third successive session but settled almost unchanged.

At one point, the Sensex was 722 points down and the Nifty had hit 15,450.90 on the downside. However, the bulls made a strong comeback in the latter half which made the indices end on a flat note.

The Sensex ended with a nominal gain of 21 points, or 0.04 percent, at 52,344.45 while the Nifty ended the day in the red, with a marginal loss of 8 points, or 0.05 percent, at 15,683.35.

Midcaps and smallcaps suffered more as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices closed 0.70 percent and 0.89 percent lower, respectively.

"The market continued to be in the consolidation phase witnessing broad-based selling, taking cues from the Fed policy and mixed global markets. US bond yields have cooled off from their high as global markets seem to have digested the latest Fed comments," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"China’s plan to sell metal reserves to check recent price hikes has pulled down the sector's sentiments. The market is likely to continue in the consolidation phase for a short while which can be an opportunity for investors to buy on dips," he said.

Most sectoral indices closed in the red; BSE Power fell 2.77 percent, followed by utilities (down 2.54 percent) and metal (down 2.01 percent).

Index	Prices	Change	Change%
Sensex	85,267.66	449.53	+0.53%
Nifty 50	26,046.95	148.40	+0.57%
Nifty Bank	59,389.95	180.10	+0.30%

Nifty 50 26,046.95 148.40 (0.57%)

Fri, Dec 12, 2025

• 1D
• 5D
• 1M
• 3M
• 6M
• 1Y
• 2Y

Biggest Gainer	Prices	Change	Change%
Hindalco	852.10	27.75	+3.37%

Biggest Loser	Prices	Change	Change%
HUL	2,260.60	-45.00	-1.95%

Best Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty Metal	10536.50	269.60	+2.63%

Worst Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty FMCG	54490.80	-128.85	-0.24%

However, BSE Telecom bucked the trend and logged a gain of 1.47 percent. Apart from the telecom index, only FMCG (up 0.20 percent) and consumer durables (up 0.12 percent) could manage to end in the green.

The overall market-capitalisation of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 227.34 lakh crore on June 18.

The Nifty formed a bearish candle on a daily scale but the presence of a long lower shadow indicates that declines were quickly bought.

Now, it has to hold above 15,600 to witness an up move towards 15,800 and 15,900 while on the downside, support can be seen at 15,500 and 15,450.

With no major event, global cues will continue to dictate the market trend. On the domestic front, the progress of the monsoon and updates on the vaccination drive will be closely watched.

Indications are in favour of further consolidation in the index but the bias would remain on the positive side till the Nifty holds above 15,400.

Participants should maintain their focus on the selection of stocks and use dips to gradually accumulate the fundamentally sound counters.

The texture of the chart suggests that for Nifty/Sensex 15,400/51,800 should be the sacrosanct level and as long as it is trading above the same, the uptrend is likely to continue up to 15,800-15,900/52,600-52,850 levels.

Further upside may also continue which could lift the index till 16,050-16,130/ 53,100-53,300.

On the flip side, below 15,400/51,800, the uptrend would be vulnerable. On the sector-specific front, capital goods, infrastructure, and telecom are likely to outperform in the near future.

The market witnessed some lacklustre movement and attempted to hold the support level around 15,600. The market expects 15,600 will act as a support and the technical factors seem aligned to support a sideways correction.

The trend is likely to continue for a few more trading sessions before the market resumes its upside momentum again.

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