In a highly volatile session, Indian equity indices failed to hold on to opening gains and ended lower for the fourth straight day on April 18 with Nifty below 22,000.
At close, the Sensex was down 454.69 points or 0.62 percent at 72,488.99, and the Nifty was down 152.05 points or 0.69 percent at 21,995.85.
Despite mixed global cues, the market started in the green, and remained positive in the first half. However, it witnessed extreme volatility in the second half before closing near the day's low.
Biggest losers on the Nifty included Apollo Hospitals, Nestle India, ONGC, Adani Enterprises and Titan Company, while gainers were Bharti Airtel, Power Grid Corporation, Hindalco Industries, Bajaj Auto and LTIMindtree.
Except telecom and media, all other sectoral indices were in the red.
The BSE midcap index shed 0.4 percent, while the smallcap index ended on a flat note.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 400 percent was seen in Inda Cements, Exide Industries and Power Grid.
A long build-up was seen in Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, while a short build-up was seen in Indraprastha Gas, Apollo Hospitals and Mahanagar Gas.
| Index | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensex | 81,101.32 | 314.02 | +0.39% |
| Nifty 50 | 24,868.60 | 95.45 | +0.39% |
| Nifty Bank | 54,216.10 | 29.20 | +0.05% |
| Biggest Gainer | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infosys | 1,504.30 | 71.40 | +4.98% |
| Biggest Loser | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trent | 5,218.50 | -97.00 | -1.82% |
| Best Sector | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty IT | 35255.90 | 945.45 | +2.76% |
| Worst Sector | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty PSU Bank | 6879.90 | -9.30 | -0.13% |
More than 200 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE, including Aarti Industries, Bharti Airtel, Cummins India, Eicher Motors, Exide Industries, Graphite India, Hitachi Energy, Indus Towers, Jindal Steel, JSW Energy, Jubilant Pharmova, Just Dial, KSB Pumps, Mankind Pharma, Samvardhana Motherson International, Petronet LNG, Quess Corp, Ramco System, among others. Click to view full list
Outlook for April 19
Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
Nifty opened gap up however during the second half a sharp selloff occurred and the Nifty closed in the red down ~152 points. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty faced resistance at the 22300 – 22320 zone where the key hourly moving averages were placed.
On the downside the Nifty is now approaching the lower end of the rising channel and the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level 22000 – 21938. It shall be a crucial level to watch out for during the next few trading sessions. Divergence on the hourly time frame charts suggests that there could be a pullback over the next few trading sessions, however we shall await price confirmation.
Bank Nifty also witnessed a sharp decline and tested the 61.82% Fibonacci retracement level (47061) of the previous rise. Considering that prices have reached a crucial Fibonacci support we shall expect the correction to halt around the zone of 47100 – 47000 zone and provide a pullback during the next few trading sessions.
Aditya Gaggar Director of Progressive Shares
Extreme volatility swings were seen on the weekly expiry day with the morning trade dominated by bulls followed by a steep decline in the mid-session. Follow-up selling dragged the Index further lower to trade below the psychological support of 22,000. With a loss of 152.05 points, Nifty50 ended the day at 21,995.85. Except for Media, all the other sectors ended the day in red with FMCG and Pharma being the major laggards. Mid and Smallcaps also witnessed a round of correction but managed to outperform Nifty50.
With a bearish engulfing candlestick pattern, the Index has broken its 50DMA and long trendline support but currently, it is placed at the lower end of the rising channel. The activity of the upcoming day will decide the continuation or reversal of the trend.
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