Closing Bell: Nifty ends below 16,700, Sensex plunges 1,189 pts on Omicron worries

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Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

We almost hit the target of 16400 and the Nifty witnessed a bounce. The trend however continues to remain bearish and we could use higher levels to go short for the next target of 16150-16200. The upside for the index is currently capped and the trend is clearly down!

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking:

Markets started the week on a feeble note and shed over 2% in continuation to the prevailing corrective phase. The bias was downbeat from the beginning citing the rising COVID cases globally due to the new variant. The benchmark remained under pressure in the first half as noticeable selling was witnessed across the board. However, rebound in the select index majors pared some losses in the latter half. Finally, Nifty settled around 16,614 levels; down by 2.18%. 

All sectors traded in line with the index and ended lower wherein PSU, realty, media and metal were the top losers. The broader indices also traded under pressure and lost nearly 4% each.
 
Markets reacted to the news of a sharp jump in the COVID cases globally which may result in a lockdown. Though the situation is under control domestically at present, any impact on the global economic recovery would dent our prospects too. Besides, the continuous outflow of the foreign fund was also weighing on the sentiment. 

We reiterate our cautious view on markets and suggest focusing more on risk management. Investors, on the other hand, can start accumulating quality stocks selectively from a long term investment perspective. Nifty has the next major support at 16,300 levels.

Sachin Gupta, AVP, Research at Choice Broking:

After a gap down opening, the Nifty index continued the downward move for the day and made a low at 16410.20 levels but during the closing hours, we witnessed a further pullback in the index and it has closed at 16614.20 levels with 2% down fall while Bank Nifty has declined more than 3% to settle at 34439.80 levels. 

The index has also moved below Middle Bollinger Band formation & 100-Days SMA, which suggest a bearish trend. A momentum indicator RSI Stochastic & MACD has traded with negative crossover. 

At present, the index has support at 16450 levels while resistance comes at 16800 levels. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 34000 levels while resistance at 35000 levels.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services:

India has been undergoing a phase of consolidation in the last 2 months. Currently sell-off is due to rapid rise in FIIs selling triggered by hawkish world central banks’ policy, cautious view on Indian market due to high valuation compared to peers and drop in retail inflows. 

We feel that we are reaching the last phase of this consolidation in terms of price correction. Some pockets have become fair however the overall market is still trading at the upper-hand which will continue to affect the performance of broad market, in the short-term. Long-term investors can chip into high quality stocks with a focus on defensives and India focused businesses.

Market Close: Benchmark indices ended lower for the second consecutive session on December 20 on rising concern over Omicron variant.

At close, the Sensex was down 1,189.73 points or 2.09% at 55,822.01, and the Nifty was down 371.00 points or 2.18% at 16,614.20. About 621 shares have advanced, 2604 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged.

BPCL, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and SBI were among the top Nifty losers. Gainers included Cipla, HUL and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

All the sectoral indices ended in the red with realty, bank, capital goods and metal indices fell 3-4 percent.  BSE midcap and smallcap indices shed over 3 percent each.

Yash Gupta, Equity Research Analyst, Angel One

Nifty 50 fall 2.5% and Bank Nifty fall 3.4% while pharma and FMCG held strong. Market falls today on the back of global concern along with omicron virus concern in India. Nifty 50 has touched the lows of 16411, while Bank Nifty has fallen more than the Nifty and touched the low of 34020.

On the border market side, Nifty midcap 100 down by 3.95% and Nifty small-cap down by 4.05%. 

We are suggesting investors be cautious on the market and avoid buy on dips strategy along with this we suggest investing some portion of the portfolio in the defensive sector. We have a buy call on Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited with a target price of Rs 950.

Axis Bank soon sign deal with Citi for India retail business

Axis Bank may be the highest bidder for Citi’s India retail business and likely to soon sign exclusivity deal with Citi. However, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank have also been in the race for Citi’s India retail business, quoting Sources, reported CNBC-TV18.

Axis Bank was quoting at Rs 672.95, down Rs 16.10, or 2.34 percent.

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WardWizard Innovations and Mobility signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Gujarat government to invest Rs 500 crore. The agreement aims to foster the growth of the electric vehicle industry and meet the government’s vision of strengthening green mobility in the state, company said in its release.

Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility was quoting at Rs 69.30, down Rs 1.20, or 1.70 percent on the BSE.

Market at 3 PM

Benchmark indices erased some of the intraday losses but still trading lower with Nifty around 16,600 level.

The Sensex was down 1,189.17 points or 2.09% at 55822.57, and the Nifty was down 368.30 points or 2.17% at 16616.90. About 583 shares have advanced, 2632 shares declined, and 94 shares are unchanged.

Balrampur Chini Mills gets order to supply 18,000 Kilo Litres of Ethanol

Balrampur Chini Mills received order to supply 18,000 Kilo Litres of Ethanol to Private Sector OMC. Hence, the company has received total order of 1,57,100 Kilo Litres for supplying Ethanol to both public sector and private sector OMCs.

Vedanta was quoting at Rs 321.75, down Rs 10.60, or 3.19 percent on the BSE.

BSE Healthcare index fell 1 percent dragged by the Dishman Carbogen Amcis, IND-Swift Laboratories, Solara Active Pharma Sciences