Closing Bell: Nifty around 17,150, Sensex up 140 points; auto, pharma, PSU banks gain

Taking Stock | Sensex, Nifty end with moderate gains ahead of Fed rate decision

On the sectoral front, pharma index added 1 percent and PSU Bank index was up 0.8 percent.

The benchmark indices witnessed range bound activity. The Nifty ends 39 points higher while the Sensex was up by 148 points. Among sectors, buying interest was seen in Pharma and PSU Banks stocks whereas intraday profit booking was seen in Media and Reality stocks.

Technically, after a gap up opening the market witnessed profit booking at higher level. however, the intraday formation is still in to the positive side. We are of the view that, for the traders now 17100/58050 would act as a sacrosanct support zone. Above the same, the market could move up to 17300-17325/58500-58700.

On the flip side, below 17100/58050 selling pressure is likely to accelerate. Below the same, the index could retest level of 17000-16900/57700-57600.

Domestic equities remained lacklustre ahead of the US Fed meeting outcome late today. Nifty opened higher and remained sideways during the day to close with marginally gains. Except Metals, Realty and Consumer Durables, all sectors ended in green.

Investors remained cautious as they await US Fed commentary to take decide direction. While 25bps rate hike is expected in the market, Fed’s comments and their plans to deal with current financial turmoil will hold importance.

It will be interesting to see how the committee plans to manage the liquidity crisis within the banking sector, while continuing its fight against inflation.

Markets traded dull in a narrow range and ended marginally higher on Wednesday. Caution ahead of the outcome of the US Fed meet capped movement till the end. Finally, the Nifty index closed at 17,151.90 levels; up by 0.26%. Meanwhile, mixed trends on the sectoral front and selective buying in midcap and smallcap space kept the participants busy till the end.

Markets will react to the outcome of the US Fed meet in early trade on Thursday. And, the scheduled weekly expiry would further add to the volatility. Since we’re eyeing a hurdle around the 17,300-17,400 zone, participants should use further rebound to reduce positions.

The Nifty index witnessed sideways momentum throughout the day but the index managed to close in green. The index remains in a buy-on-dip mode as long as the index stays above 17,000.

The immediate hurdle on the upside is at 17,200 where the highest open interest is built up on the call side. The index once surpassed the resistance will witness a sharp move on the upside toward the 17,500 level.

Nifty rose for the second consecutive session on March 22 after a range bound session. At close, Nifty was up 0.26% or 44.4 points at 17151.9. Volumes on the NSE were the lowest in more than 9 months. Smallcap index rose more than the Nifty even as the advance decline ratio remained high at 1.64:1.

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday while European stocks struggled for momentum after a tentative recovery in the past two sessions, with investors looking ahead to a crucial monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve amid turmoil in the banking sector. UK’s inflation unexpectedly accelerated to 10.4% in February.

Nifty carried on with the upmove, though the pace reduced. It could now rise towards 17,422 once the 17,255 level is taken out. On falls, 17,067 could provide support.

UK inflation showing systemic contagion. Core is up 0.9% YoY back to highs of 6.2%. The surprise print was significant in both its magnitude and breadth. BoE may be pressed to follow ECB suit tomorrow amid this inflation upside surprise.

Had there been easing in inflation, the case of looking closer owing to market stress and some data weakness would have been there for BoE. But seems not any more. 25bp hike likely tomorrow by BoE too.

The Bank Nifty index has remained mostly sideways as the investors preferred waiting until after the Federal Reserve meeting on the rates and the follow-up commentary, which is more important. On the higher end, the index has found resistance at the 14DMA during the day's trade.

The momentum indicator is in bullish crossover. A decisive breakout above 40,000 may induce a rally in the index, above which the index may move up towards 40,500/41,000 over the near term. On the lower end, support lies at 39,500.

Staying afloat in a volatile trade, the domestic market managed to remain positive, with the optimism that global banking system issue is behind us. Additionally, the volatility brought in from western markets ahead of the announcement of Fed policy and release of high UK inflation, tested market sentiments. The market has factored a 25bps rate hike by Fed, and an in-line and less hawkish policy stance will attract bulls.

The Nifty witnessed a rangebound day of trade today. It opened on a positive note and consolidated thereafter to close the day on a positive note up ~44 points. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty is in a pullback mode after correcting around 1000 points between March 9 to March 20.

Today the daily momentum indicator has triggered a fresh positive crossover which is a buy signal. Also, we believe that the pullback is not yet complete and we expect it to continue over the next few trading sessions.

On the upside, we expect it to retrace till levels of 17,460 – 17,500 where resistance in the form of the 200-day moving average and also a gap are formed on the 10th march is placed. On the downside the immediate support stands at the lower end of the downward sloping channel 16,800 – 16,830.

: Benchmark indices ended higher in the volatile session on March 22.

At close, the Sensex was up 139.91 points or 0.24% at 58,214.59, and the Nifty was up 44.40 points or 0.26% at 17,151.90. About 1993 shares advanced, 1421 shares declined, and 128 shares unchanged.

Top gainers on the Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma and Tata Consumer Products, while losers were BPCL, Coal India, NTPC, Adani Ports and Axis Bank.

On the sectoral front, pharma index added 1 percent and PSU Bank index up 0.8 percent.

The BSE midcap index ended on flat note, while smallcap index rose 0.5 percent.

The Federal Open Market Committee will discuss and decide on various economic policies, including potentially raising interest rates, to control inflation in the US during March 21 & March 22 and The US Fed rate hike decision will be announced on March 22 followed by a press conference.

Easing US inflation provided confidence that the Fed would not opt for a harsh rate hike of 50 bps and might even consider taking a break during the March meeting. The market is buzz with the hawkish stance from the US Fed officials in this meeting and expecting a maximum of 25 bps rate hike.

If the US Fed raises interest rates, the cost of capital increases, leading to lower stock valuations. Following the US Fed’s announcement of a likely increase in interest rates, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have started pulling out of Indian and other emerging equity markets.

We are a major importer of crude oil, and continuous selling by FIIs results in rupee depreciation and a higher import bill. This, in turn, has a negative impact on our current account balance.

The Indian market can be described to be on a rather independent trajectory of its own. Depreciation of the Indian rupee should actually help raise exports from India, thereby bringing in greater revenue for Indian domestic producers.

GST collections, fuel consumption etc. have been healthy throughout, so the impact on the Indian equity market and emerging market is expected to be nominal.