Closing Bell: Market ends flat amid volatility; oil & gas, power stocks rally

Taking Stock: Sensex, Nifty End Flat After Hitting Record Highs; Oil & Gas, Power Stocks Gain

More than 100 stocks, including Wirpo, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finance hit 52-week high on the BSE.... Read More

Benchmark Nifty hit a fresh record high, but failed to close above the 16700 mark due to profit booking at higher levels. Technically, post the strong pullback rally, the index has formed a double top kind of reversal formation near the 16700 resistance level, which is broadly negative for the market.

However, the larger texture of the market is still bullish, but for day traders the 16700 level would act as a major hurdle. Above the same, the uptrend could continue up to 16750-16790 levels. On the flip side, a strong possibility of quick intraday correction up to 16580-16550 levels is not ruled out if the Nifty succeeds to trade below 16620.

The higher high and higher low setup in Nifty almost got distorted as Nifty tested 16,400 on Friday but sector rotation ensured that Nifty bounced back to retest 16,700 today. However, RSI has still not improved for Nifty as compared to 18th August high and we may see supply coming again at resistance zone of 16,700 to 16,800.

The good thing about yesterday’s move was improvement in market breadth which has helped Nifty record a close above 16,600 (a new ATH closing). The confirmation of correction will come if we break 16,400 decisively until then its best to stick to momentum counters for trading and investors are advised to take some profits off the table as we inch higher.

Nifty trades at all-time high levels of 16600-16700 with very stock-specific movement. Broader market participation remains muted. For the month Nifty is up approximately 5 percent while the midcap space is down by 5 percent. The short-term resistance was seen at 16870 levels.

Expect consolidation in the range of 16300-16870 for the next few sessions; long aggression is advisable above 16870 only. Auto and metal stocks look attractive, while IT space has rallied significantly in the short term and can witness profit booking.

The rapid ascent from last week's lows was bereft of enough bullish continuation patterns, rendering it vulnerable for correction. Hence, despite the prospects of covering of shorts that have been accumulated in the last fortnight, the approach to the recent peak of 16701 gave the bears a vantage point to launch a counter-attack. This dip can stretch further in the early part of Thursday, as the financials have been found quite reluctant to support.

However, mid and small caps look to have found their voice, suggesting that overall sentiments may not turn outright negative and bulls could attempt a regroup once inside the 16585-520 region, for a dash towards 17000-200. Alternatively, direct fall below 16520 could call for 16200-15700, which though, is less expected for now.

Market opened positively but main indices closed on a flattish note due to muted performance by large caps. The broad market was more positive, as midcaps bounced after the correction mode during the month, which lifted the morale of investors.

The global market traded positive on Covid vaccine approval and in anticipation of a dovish comment by the Fed chair in the upcoming meeting (Jackson Hole).

The market witnessed some lackluster movement and an attempt to hold around the Nifty 50 Index level of 16650. The market shows that it is going to be crucial for the short-term market scenario to sustain above the 16500 level. If the market is unable to sustain the level of 16500, it can witness lower levels of 16350. Technical indicator suggests, a volatile movement in the market in a small range between 16350-16700.

Benchmark indices ended on flat note after hitting fresh record high levels intraday.

At close, the Sensex was down 14.77 points or 0.03% at 55,944.21, and the Nifty was up 10.10 points or 0.06% at 16,634.70. About 1941 shares have advanced, 1180 shares declined, and 107 shares are unchanged.

Adani Ports, HDFC Life, Hindalco, Coal India and ONGC were the top Nifty gainers. Bajaj Finserv, Titan Company, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel and JSW Steel were among the top losers.

Among sectors, except pharma, realty, bank and auto, all other sectoral indices ended higher with the power and oil & gas indices up 1 percent each. BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose 0.5 percent each.

ICRA has upgraded the long term rating of Minda Industries at [ICRA] AA+ from [ICRA] AA. The outlook on the long term rating is stable. ICRA has also reaffirmed the short-term rating at [ICRA] A1+.

Minda Industries was quoting at Rs 728.90, up Rs 8.40, or 1.17 percent on the BSE.

Cipla and Kemwell Biopharma announced execution of a joint venture agreement to develop, manufacture and commercialise biosimilars for global markets. For this purpose, a joint venture company shall be incorporated with an aim to enter the respiratory biosimilars space, Cipla said in its release.

Cipla was quoting at Rs 912.35, down Rs 5.05, or 0.55 percent on the BSE.

India may announce rules allowing companies to list overseas in the next budget in February, as some issues are yet to be resolved and are under discussion, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Wednesday.

The comments confirm a Reuters report that said India would take around six months to announce rules allowing companies to list overseas - taking longer than some expected as the finance ministry irons out issues related to taxation

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday but stayed above $70 a barrel, taking a breather after recent days' strong rally as Mexico was set to resume crude production following a major outage.