The Indian equity market mirrored the weak trend across global counterparts and opened lower on August 16. However, steady gains across the frontline information technology (IT) stocks helped Nifty50 come off its day's low.
Despite a slight recovery in trade, analysts are not hoping for much positivity as they expect the Nifty50 to consolidate in a narrow range throughout the truncated week, mainly due to a lack of upside triggers.
At 12.27 pm, the Sensex was down 140.22 points or 0.21 percent at 65,261.70, and the Nifty was down 52.40 points or 0.27 percent at 19,382.10.
Options data suggests pressure making its way for the bulls at around 19,400 as call option writers huddled the strike price. As a result, the Nifty50 also struggled to decisively move past the 19,400 mark in fc trade. On the downside, put option writers turned active at 19,300 as they tried to limit losses in the market.
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"Call option writers have been more aggressive in recent weeks due to continued profit booking seen among heavyweights, with the highest call base placed at 19,600 strike while the put bases are relatively lower. Hence, only a move above 19,600 should be considered for creating fresh longs in the market," brokerage firm ICICIdirect stated in its report.
On the other hand, SBI Securities pegged immediate support for the index at 19,300-19,280 levels, and a move below that zone is expected to trigger further selling.
Among specific stocks, InterGlobe Aviation witnessed a surge in short positions following a large deal where the promoter likely sold a 5.1 percent stake in the low-cost carrier. Hindustan Copper and Vodafone Idea also saw a jump in short positions after their weak April-June earnings dented sentiment.
Several pharma and healthcare counters like Ipca Labs, Zydus Life and Apollo Hospitals saw the addition of long positions. Top Nifty50 gainer, Infosys also witnessed a rise in long positions after the company bagged a €1.5-billion ($1.6 billion) deal from Liberty Global.
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