Closing Bell: Nifty below 17,100, Sensex down 289 pts; power shines, financials drag

Taking Stock | Market snaps 2-day winning streak; Sensex down 289 points, Nifty below 17,100

State Bank of India, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Auto were among the major Nifty losers. The gainers included Hindalco Industries, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki and JSW Steel.... Read More

A fear of a rising inflation rate was seen as a main hurdle, which pulled down the market in the last one hour of trade. The markets got off to a muted start this morning but witnessed heightened volatility during early part of the session.

The benchmark indices showed wild moves in both the positive and negative terrain. Bulls became aggressive in late-morning trades as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the domestic capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 61.72 crore, exchange data showed.
However, selling at higher levels pulled down the broader sectoral indices, which ended in the red, mainly on the back of weekly futures and options contract expiry day.

Market participants also remained on side lines amid fears that the Fed's strong fight against inflation could send the economy into a recession; have been made worse by recent financial sector unrest brought on by the collapses of SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank.

Nifty could not build on to the two day gains. 17,200-17,225 is proving to be a tough resistance.

On falls, 16,985 could provide support. If Nifty does not resume the uptrend by tomorrow, then the short term top would have been made at 17,207.

Markets traded volatile and lost nearly half a percent amid mixed cues. After the initial downtick, the Nifty recovered gradually in the first half however fall in the heavyweights around 17,200 levels again pushed the index in the red. Consequently, it closed at 17,076.90 levels; down by 0.4%.

Continued pressure on the IT majors and profit taking in banking and financial counters turned the tone negative. In line with the trend, the broader indices too shed nearly half a percent each.

Markets have been facing tremendous pressure on every rise, tracking mixed global cues. And, we are seeing a similar situation on the sectoral front too as there is hardly any consistency in the trend. For further rebound, Nifty should decisively cross the 17,200 mark. Meanwhile, it is prudent to restrict positions and wait for clarity.

The Nifty witnessed an extremely day of trade today. It traded with a positive bias during the first half of the trading session while it completely reversed during the second half of the trading session and ended the day on a negative note down 75 points.

On the daily charts we can observe that 17,180 – 17,210 acted as a stiff resistance and was unable to surpass it. On the hourly charts, we can observe that the Bollinger bands are contracting indicating rangebound price action. The hourly momentum indicator has a negative crossover which also indicates range price action before it starts a new cycle.

We believe that this fall is a retracement of the rise from 16,828 – 17,207. Overall, we expect the Nifty to hold on to the support zone of 17,020 – 16,970 and resume the pullback over the next few trading sessions. On the upside the initial hurdle is placed at 17,180 – 17,210, beyond this it has the potential to 17,315 – 17,430.

Banking stocks came under fire that dragged key benchmark indices lower as a sharp decline in the US markets a day before cautioned investors. Although most of the other Asian indices eked out gains cheering that the US Fed may go soft on rate hikes going ahead, local markets failed to follow suit as higher valuations and weak macro-economy prompted investors to book profit.

Technically, the Nifty once again failed to clear the short term resistance of 17,210. The index has also formed a double top formation on intraday charts, indicating further weakness from the current levels.

For the bulls, 17,050-17,000 would act as important support zones while 17,200-17,250 could be key resistance area for the short term traders. However, below 16,950, the uptrend would be vulnerable.

Although the Fed's decision to increase rates by 25 basis points was in line with expectations, concerns were raised by the US Treasury Secretary's statement that blanket insurance for all deposits was not being considered.

The domestic market attempted to recoup its initial losses with the help of favourable US futures as the Fed hinted at its plan to pause rate hikes sooner. However, the recovery was short-lived due to a sluggish start in the European market led by a 50bps hike by the Swiss National Bank.

Indian rupee ended 40 paise higher at 82.26 per dollar against Tuesday's close of 82.66.

: Benchmark indices ended on a negative note in the volatile session on March 23 with Nifty below 17,100.

At close, the Sensex was down 289.31 points or 0.50% at 57,925.28, and the Nifty was down 75.00 points or 0.44% at 17,076.90. About 1428 shares advanced, 1983 shares declined, and 127 shares unchanged.

State Bank of India, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Auto were among major losers on the Nifty, while gainers included Hindalco Industries, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki and JSW Steel.

Mixed trend saw on the sectoral front, with realty, bank, information technology and PSU bank down 0.5-1 percent, while buying saw in the metal, FMCG and power names.

The BSE midcap index shed 0.4 percent, while smallcap index ended on flat note.

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar acquires 5.04% shareholding of Bajaj Power ventures for Rs 445.54 crore and also acquired 98.01 % shareholding (post conversion) of Phenil Sugars Limited by way of conversion of existing preference shares into equity shares.

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar was quoting at Rs 12.63, up Rs 0.11, or 0.88 percent.

-Overweight rating, target at Rs 3,216 per share
-OFS floor price of Rs 2,450 per share for maximum 3.5 percent stake sale
-Above development would increase free float of stock
-At OFS floor price, stock is valued at P/E of 17.4x & 15.4x EPS estimate for FY24 & FY25
-Size is less than market expectations of >5 percent & removes an overhang
-Remain overweight & would look to use any weakness to add to positions

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. was quoting at Rs 2,503.00, down Rs 122.20, or 4.65 percent on the BSE.

-Buy rating, target at Rs 1,550 per share
-CEO says bank is on track to deliver healthy growth, improvement in core franchise & RoA
-Bank will continue to build on domain specialisation to ramp up on liabilities & loans
-Valuations look attractive at 1.3x FY24 PB

IndusInd Bank was quoting at Rs 1,015.45, down Rs 15.80, or 1.53 percent.