MAT case spooking mkt; near-term outlook clouded: Brokers

“Apart from that, the fourth-quarter and full-year earnings too will likely be nothing to write home about but that was already known,” Malkani said.

He, however, added that it was his belief that the long-term bull market was not going to in a hurry and that investors with a long term view could start looking at picking up stocks, by taking exposure to quality FMCG, IT, pharma or private bank names.

There have been a whirlwind of rumours that have weighed on equities, Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities said. But he refused to elaborate upon what these rumours were, except to say they were related to “tax” and “political issues”.

“While in the immediate short-term, I think the worst of the sell-off is over, I would advise investors to let things settle down before they start nibbling into the market,” he said. “As they say, do not attempt catching a falling knife,” he said.

The immediate support for the Nifty lay at the 8,300 level, according to Dutt, who said that were the Nifty to breach these, it could go down another 5-6 odd percent to 7,800. “But I do expect some sort of base building at 8,300.”