After The Bell: Market ends flat after hitting record highs, what should investors do on Monday?

The Indian market closed flat with a negative bias on July 16, while the broader markets outperformed the benchmarks amid profit-booking at higher levels. The Nifty50 managed to hold on to 15,900 on a closing basis,  which is a positive sign for the bulls.

The Nifty hit a fresh high of 15,962, while the Sensex climbed a new peak of 53,290 but the bulls failed to hold on to the momentum and the indices closed flat-to-lower.

The Sensex ended 0.04 percent down and the Nifty closed flat at 15,923.

"Indian market opened with gains, however, failed to maintain and ended flattish as profit booking was triggered in major sectors barring pharma. Buying interest was seen in the Pharma sector in anticipation of strong Q1 results,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

The risk of profit booking is rising due to elevated performance and lack of direction from the western developed markets with flat performance recently. FIIs continue as net sellers in the domestic equity market during the past few days, he said.

Sectorally, buying was seen in telecom, realty, metals, energy, and power stocks, while profit-taking was visible in IT, banks and finance.

The BSE midcap index rose 0.45 percent, while the smallcap index closed with gains of 0.38 percent.

The Nifty formed a bearish candle on the daily scale as it closed lower than its opening levels but continued forming higher highs-higher lows for the fifth session.

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	10536.45	269.55	+2.63%

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

It has formed a Bullish candle on a weekly frame and supports are gradually shifting higher for the next leg of the rally.

The index has to hold above 15,900 to witness a move towards 16,000 and 16,200, while on the downside, support exists at 15,800 and 15,750.

The index retested its breakout zone and is all set to move northwards. Supports have shifted towards 15,850-15,800 zone and if the index holds above the said levels, the structure is positive. Any dip around these levels will be a buying opportunity, with stop out levels below 15,770. Resistance is near 15,960-16,000 zone. We may see a good move above 16,000.

The Nifty consolidated gains on July 16 after having a run-up throughout the week. The daily chart shows that the sideways action over the last several sessions formed a sideways channel.

The index surpassed the upper-end of the channel on July 15 and retested the breakout line the on July 16. This is an opportunity for the positional traders to initiate a fresh long position.

The index is expected to surpass the 16000-mark and head to 16,400 in the short term. The daily momentum indicator and the daily Bollinger Bands are supporting the bullish stance. On the other hand, 15,850-15,800 will act as a cushion in case of any minor dip.

Broking company stocks were in the limelight, with Angel Broking closing with a gain of 20 percent after strong numbers and Motilal Oswal Fin Services gained 10 percent. Cyient Ltd jumped 12 percent after posting robust Q1 numbers.

The Nifty has to hold above the 15,900 and sustain above it for the rally to extend towards 16,200, while 15,600 remains crucial support on the downside.

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