Dalal Street saw a choppy session of trade as investors digested a series of global cues on Wednesday, July 16. The Nifty 50 and Sensex recovered from the day's low by the afternoon session of trade, but lacking of buying failed to keep the indices solidly above the flatline.
At close, the Sensex was up 63.57 points or 0.08 percent at 82,634.48, and the Nifty was up 16.25 points or 0.06 percent at 25,212.05. About 2016 shares advanced, 1511 shares declined, and 133 shares unchanged.
"The market has been oscillating in a narrow range during the last two months. A breakout above the upper band of the range, well beyond Nifty 25,500, needs positive triggers," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments. Investors are eyeing the ongoing earnings season, along with the chatter on Trump's tariffs for cues.
On the sectoral front, there was some strong outperformers. The IT index continued to see buying interest following its lackluster performance over the past month, gaining around 0.8 percent in trade. The Media index rallied over 1.3 percent, led by strong gains from Network18 that rose 12 percent intraday following a strong earnings show for the quarter ended June.
Public sector banks shone in a muted market, as the Nifty PSU Bank index jumped 1.7 percent after reports suggested that the Centre might look towards a fresh round of reforms for the financial sector.
According to CNBC-TV18, sources stated that additional consolidation among public lenders remains a possibility, as the government looks to create larger banking institutions capable of supporting the credit demands of a rapidly expanding economy.
On the flip side, metals slipped as a heating up retail inflation in the U.S. spurred bets that the Federal Reserve would keep rates higher for longer, therefore supporting the dollar. A higher dollar indicates higher prices for commodities player. Apart from metals, pharma and healthcare stocks were also mildly in the red, as U.S. President Trump indicated that pharma tariffs would be imposed towards the end of July.
The broader markets were also trading flat, with the smallcap and midcap indices eking out minor gains of 0.05 percent each.
"The 25,000 mark now serves as a critical support - if breached, it could lead to further downside toward 24,700. On the upside, immediate resistance lies at 25,200, with a strong hurdle between 25,378 and 25,500. A breakout above this zone is needed to re-establish bullish momentum," Hardik Matalia, Derivative Analyst - Research at Choice Equity Broking said.
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