Closing Bell: Nifty ends below 17,700, Sensex falls 480 pts; IT drags, power stocks gain

Markets started the week on a feeble note following weak global cues and lost over half a percent. After a muted opening, the benchmark continued to trade in a range however the bias was on the negative side. Amid all, sectoral indices traded mixed wherein selling pressure in the IT heavyweights and select index majors from the banking and financials space dented sentiment. However, movement on the broader front kept the participants busy till the end. Consequently, the Nifty ended lower by 0.6% to close at 17,674.95 levels.

Markets will react to TCS numbers in the early trade on Tuesday i.e. on April 12. Besides, cues from the global markets will also be in focus. On the index front, the Nifty has been witnessing consolidation on the expected lines and a break below 17,600 could push the index further lower towards 17,400. Meanwhile, participants should continue with a cautious approach and stick with the stock-specific trading approach.

The fight between the bulls and bears continued in the Bank Nifty index and a breakout above 38000 will confirm the up move.

The lower end of the 37000-36800 zone will act as a cushion and a decisive break below this will only lead to further selling pressure.

The market remained sideward throughout the session as the benchmark Nifty failed to give a directional move. On the higher end, the index found resistance around the previous closing on the daily chart.

However, Nifty on the daily chart has formed an inside day bar which suggests indecisiveness. On the lower end, support is visible at 17600/17400. On the higher end, the resistance is seen at 17800.

After the recent decline in the last week, the Nifty had taken support near lower end of a reverse rising channel, where it had formed a bullish outside bar on the daily chart on April 8.

The index continued to consolidate near the lower channel line on April 11 & ultimately formed an Inside bar on the daily chart. This makes the boundaries of the outside bar i.e. 17600 & 17842 crucial support & resistance, respectively.

Overall short term range for the Nifty is expected to be 17500-18000. Within this range, any dip towards 17600-17500 can be taken as a fresh buying opportunity from short term trading perspective. On the higher side, 18000-18100 is expected to act as a cap for the short term.

Negative sentiment across Asian equities had a bearing on local stocks, as investors followed suit and trimmed their positions in risky counters. Investors, especially, shunned technology stocks ahead of TCS results because of fears that any subdued outlook for next quarter earnings could ignite further selling in the sector going ahead.

After a negative opening, the Nifty hovered within the range of 17650 -17780. Technically, on daily charts the index has formed a small inside body bearish candle which indicates indecisiveness between bulls and bears.

We are of the view that a 10-day SMA and 17600 retracement support zone would act as key support levels for the Nifty. Above the same, a strong possibility of a pullback rally up to 17850-17900 is not ruled out.

On the flip side, below 17600 range breakout, the market could retest the level of 17500-17430.

The market is wary ahead of the ECB meeting, the release of US inflation data, and the start of the domestic Q4 result season.

Indian IT sector dragged due to weak result expectations on a QoQ basis. In this shortened week, the market is cautious as trading at the upper side of the trend and momentum has shifted from broad to stock-specific.

: Indian rupee ended 5 paise lower at 75.95 per dollar against Friday’s close of 75.90.

Benchmark indices ended lower on April 11 with Nifty finishing below 17700 dragged by IT and capital goods stocks.

At close, the Sensex was down 482.61 points or 0.81% at 58,964.57, and the Nifty was down 109.30 points or 0.61% at 17,675.00. About 2072 shares have advanced, 1393 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged.

HCL Technologies, Infosys, Larsen and Toubro, Wipro and SBI Life Insurance were among the top Nifty gainers. However, Grasim Industries, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, UPL and Cipla were the top gainers.

Among sectors, power index rose 5 percent, oil & gas index was up over 2 percent and realty index added 1 percent, while IT and capital goods indices fell 1 percent each. BSE Midcap and smallcap indices were up 0.4 percent each.

Tata Motors is looking to ramp up the production of electric vehicles as demand continues to outpace the manufacturing activity by a huge margin, according to a top company official.

The Mumbai-based automaker, which led the passenger electric vehicle space in the domestic market in last fiscal year, has been receiving an average of 5,500-6,000 bookings in the past two months for its EV range.

The company sells three electric products — Nexon EV, Tigor EV and XPRES-T — in the domestic market.

It has also recently unveiled a coupe style SUV which it plans to launch in the next two years

January-March earnings may disappoint, expect downgrades: Mahesh Patil of Aditya Birla MF

Mahesh Patil of Aditya Birla MF expressed his concern about the impact of the surge in global commodity prices and likely slowdown in global growth.