Closing Bell: Market ends marginally higher in choppy trade; auto shines, pharma drag

Nifty’s ascent towards its all-time-high at 18,605 is still on the radar! The technical landscape is still aggressively bullish. This optimistic backdrop should take Nifty easily to its magical goalpost at 18605 mark and then aggressive inter-month targets at psychological 19000 mark.

There is likely to be lots of opportunities on the buy side as long as Nifty stays above 17921 mark.

Today morning, the global markets looked a bit nervous but as we approached our opening time, the SGX Nifty recovered to some extent and as a result, the week kick started marginally in red. Market did not take much of a time to enter the positive terrain and then remained within a slender range throughout the remaining part of the session. Although there was no real momentum in key indices, Nifty managed to reclaim the 18300 mark at the close.

Since last 3 – 4 trading sessions, the benchmark index has lost its sheen because heavyweight banking space continues to sulk a bit. But we must construe this as an index balancing because we have already seen a massive recovery and now approaching record highs when the mega event budget is around the corner. So this has applied brakes on the momentum in key indices but all this whist, if we look at the overall activity in market meticulously, there is no shortage of action in individual themes.

In such times, it’s advisable not to focus on index, rather keep concentrating in stock specific moves that are likely to provide better trading opportunities. As far as levels are concerned, 18350 – 18400 are to be considered as immediate resistances; whereas on the flipside, 18200 – 18150 is to be treated as key supports now.

The markets closed on a strong footing and has crossed 18300. We should be heading to 18500; however it is not advisable for traders to jump into fresh long positions.

A buy on dips approach is better as the risk reward ratio is not favorable at current levels. The support for the Nifty is at 18100.

After a negative opening, the index made an intraday low at 18228.75 levels but it showed recovery from the bottom and managed to close the session above the 18300 mark at 18308.10 level with a gain of 52.35 points.

On the technical front, the index has given breakout above the prior swing high & and formed a bullish candle on a daily time frame which suggests an upside rally in the counter. Furthermore, the index has been trading above Ichimoku cloud which adds strength for upside.

Moreover, the index has been trading above 21 & 50-DMA with a positive crossover as well as a momentum indicator MACD & STOCHASTIC are trading with a positive crossover on the daily time-frame which suggests strength in the counter.

At present, the index has support at 18200 levels while resistance comes at 18380 levels, crossing above the same can show 18500-18600 levels. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 37800 levels while resistance at 39000 levels.

Markets started the week on a flat note amid mixed global cues. As the day progressed, high volatility was witnessed but the benchmark traded in a positive range for most of the session. Finally, the Nifty ended higher by 0.3% to close at 18,300 levels.

Amongst the sectors, mostly ended in the green wherein auto, energy and realty witnessed healthy buying and supported the benchmark, while pharma and financials were laggards. Meanwhile, buoyancy in the broader markets kept the traders busy.

Markets are currently witnessing time-wise correction and likely to resume the trend soon. Meanwhile, participants should focus more on risk management citing a rise in volatility due to the earnings. We reiterate our preference for IT, metal, realty and pharma pack while banking may see further consolidation.

In a week guided by the release of various corporate earnings, domestic indices edged higher on a flat note led by consumer durables, energy and auto stocks.

Asian markets were largely mixed post the release of China’s 4th quarter GDP data reporting an expansion of 4% YoY as covid restrictions and property woes hit demand. Rising covid cases globally continue to colour investor sentiments.

Auto stocks shined in a flat trading session on the back of price hikes, thrust on electric vehicles and ETF launches in the sector as the basket of stocks posted smart gains.

The commodity index provided good support in afternoon trade buoyed by earnings. The broader markets witnessed profit taking in pharma stocks with investor interest seen in footwear stocks.

: Indian benchmark indices ended with marginal gain in the choppy session on January 17 supported by the auto, realty and power names.

At close, the Sensex was up 85.88 points or 0.14% at 61,308.91, and the Nifty was up 52.30 points or 0.29% at 18,308.10. About 2101 shares have advanced, 1295 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged.

Hero MotoCorp, Grasim Industries, ONGC, Tata Motors and UltraTech Cement were the top Nifty gainers. Losers were HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Britannia Industries, Axis Bank and Cipla.

Except pharma and bank all other sectoral indices ended in the green with auto, power and realty added 1-2 percent. BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended higher.

Indian markets opened marginally positive tracking mixed Asian market peers as data showed Chinese economy grew at 8.1% in 2021, marginally lower than expectations of 8.4%.

During the afternoon session, markets showed some strength and traded in positive territory as traders were getting relief, as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) reversed the three-month selling streak in January by investing net Rs 3,117 crore in Indian markets.

However, the gains were capped during the day due to subdued performance by Financials, IT and Healthcare.

We believe that the bank is on an accelerated growth path with robust advances growth aided by retail and commercial segments and better asset quality.

Advances are likely to clock a CAGR of ~17% over FY22E to FY24E. The banks continuous building up of its digital infrastructure and franchise network is likely to bode well for growth going ahead.

We believe that the bank now has sufficient drivers in terms of asset quality, reasonable provision buffers and appropriate asset mix to drive growth going forward. We maintain a buy rating with a revised price target of Rs 1,973.

Credit Suisse has kept outperform rating on HCL Technologies and raised the target price to Rs 1,650 from Rs 1,450 on the back of solid revenue growth but margin disappoints.

It is well positioned for a stronger FY23. Factoring in Q3 results, Credit Suisse increased FY22E-FY24 EPS by 1-8 percent.

Broking firm maintained positive view, given relatively attractive valuations.

HCL Technologies was quoting at Rs 1,256.55, down Rs 80.65, or 6.03 percent on the BSE.