Closing Bell: Market ends flat amid volatility; IT, metals drag, realty gains

Markets ended the choppy session on an uninspiring note as caution was seen amidst lack of clarity on the Fed rate hike outlook.

As was widely expected, the benchmark consolidated its gains ahead of the US Jobs report.

Technically speaking, the downside risk for Nifty is now seen limited at the make-or-break support at 17017 mark. We expect Nifty bulls to aim for 17500-17707 zone in the near term.

Markets took a pause after the recent rebound and ended almost unchanged, in absence of any major trigger. After a flat start, the Nifty index hovered in a narrow range and finally settled closer to the day’s high to close at 17,314.65 levels.

Most sectoral indices traded in sync with the benchmark and ended flat. Meanwhile, stock-specific movement across sectors kept participants busy.

Global markets, especially the US, are still not offering indications for a sustained recovery, so volatility is here to stay and participants should plan overnight positions accordingly.

Meanwhile, on the index front, the tone would remain positive till the Nifty holds 17,100. We feel the prudent approach is to focus on top-performing stocks from across sectors and use intermediate dips to add them instead of chasing laggards, in hope of a rebound.

The benchmark Nifty remained volatile before closing on a muted note. However, the index has closed above 50 EMA, confirming the ongoing positive trend.

Going forward, the trend is expected to remain positive as long as the Nifty sustains above 17300. On the higher end, the 17600-17700 zone may act as resistance, whereas, on the lower end, support is visible at 17200.

The Bank Nifty remained volatile throughout the day. However, the index has managed to sustain above 50 EMA on the daily chart. The RSI is entering a bullish crossover. Over the short term, the index may move towards 40000. On the lower end, support is visible at 38500.

Indian rupee closed lower by 43 paise at 82.32 per dollar on Friday against previous close of 81.89.

Indian benchmark indices ended with marginal change in the highly volatile session on October 7.

At Close, the Sensex was down 30.81 points or 0.05% at 58,191.29, and the Nifty was down 17.10 points or 0.10% at 17,314.70. About 1915 shares have advanced, 1445 shares declined, and 96 shares are unchanged.

Titan Company, Power Grid Corporation, ONGC, IndusInd Bank and Grasim Industries were among the top Nifty gainers. Tata Consumer Products, BPCL, M&M, UltraTech Cement and Coal India were the top losers.

Among sectors, metal, healthcare, oil & gas and IT down 0.5 percent each, while realty, power and capital goods ended in the green.

BSE midcap index ended flat, while smallcap index rose 0.3 percent.

Prior to the release of the US jobs data, the domestic market traded with cuts in line with its global counterparts. Stronger-than-anticipated job data may lead to a market decline as it could give the Fed more reasons to focus on inflation.

Following OPEC+'s announcement of supply reductions, crude prices have continued to rise, while the rupee has dropped to a fresh low as a result of hawkish remarks from Fed officials.

India's auto demand is recovering from its worst slowdown in decades and expect strong 17-19% volume CAGR for PVs, 2-wheelers & trucks over FY22-25, said Broking house Jefferies.

The falling metal prices should lift margin too, while concern of new entrants squeezing out incumbents in 2-wheeler EV is alleviating, it added,

Jefferies stay bullish on autos with TVS, Maruti, Eicher & Tata Motors as preferred buys, while having underperform call on Motherson, Bharat Forge, M&M, reported CNBC-TV18.

Morgan Stanley has maintained overweight rating on Bharat Forge with a target at Rs 1,025 per share.

The strong class 8 orders support shallow truck downcycle thesis. M&HCV exports form 26% of topline; it may decline by low-single digits in FY24, said Morgan Stanley.

Researfch firm expect India Auto & non-auto businesses to be key earnings drivers, reported CNBC-TV18.

Bharat Forge was quoting at Rs 767.45, up Rs 3.55, or 0.46 percent on the BSE.

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Credit Suisse has kept outperform rating on JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals and raised the target price to Rs 2,300 per share.

The company guided for medium-term 15% CAGR in revenue & 18-20% in EBITDA. The revenue composition is also shifting towards India & CDMO, said Credit Suisse.

Broking house raises FY23/FY24/FY25 EPS estimates by 5%/6%/8%, reported CNBC-TV18.

JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals was quoting at Rs 1,999.90, up Rs 23.85, or 1.21 percent.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Electronics Mart India continued to see good response from investors on the final day of the bidding. The issue was subscribed 50.64 times on October 7, last day of the bidding, as the participants bought 316.5 crore equity shares against the offer size of 6.25 crore shares.

Retail investors, who were allocated 35 percent of the IPO shares, subscribed 18 times the portion reserved for them.

Non-institutional investors and qualified institutional investors also appeared to be bullish on the company, buying 56.20 times and 103.61 times the quota set aside for them respectively.

Half of the offer was reserved for qualified institutional investors, while 15 percent shares were set aside for non-institutional investors.

The fourth largest electronic retailer (in southern region) opened its public issue for subscription on October 4 with an aim to raise up to Rs 500 crore.