Taking Stock: Market ends lower in lackluster trade; metal, PSU bank gain, pharma drags

Divis Laboratories, Nestle India, TCS, IndusInd Bank and Asian Paints were among the top Nifty losers, while gainers included Hero MotoCorp, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Coal India and LTIMindtree

The benchmark indices ended on a negative note in the volatile session on October 16 with Sensex falling 115.81 points or 0.17 percent to end at 66,166.93, while Nifty was down 19.20 points or 0.10 percent to close at 19,731.80.

On the back of mixed global cues, the market started on a negative note, dragging Nifty below 19,700 but did recover and witnessed range-bound movement throughout the session.

Also Read: Wholesale inflation rises to 6-month high of -0.26% in September

Stocks and sectors

Divis Laboratories, Nestle India, TCS, IndusInd Bank and Asian Paints were among the top Nifty losers, while gainers included Hero MotoCorp, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Coal India and LTIMindtree.

On the sectoral front, the metal index was up 1.3 percent, PSU bank index was up 0.7 percent and auto index was up 0.4 percent. On the other hand, realty and healthcare indices ended lower.

BSE Midcap index rose 0.25 percent and Smallcap index added 0.3 percent.

A long build-up was seen in GNFC, Multi Commodity Exchange of India and NMDC, while a short build-up was seen in Divis Laboratories, Laurus Laboratories and Vodafone Idea.

Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 300 percent was seen in GNFC, Samvardhana Motherson International and Balrampur Chini Mills.

More than 300 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE, including TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Healthcare, Polycab India, Federal Bank, Salzer Electronics, Coal India, Lupin, ITI, Sequent Scientific, Sobha, MMTC, Sun TV Network, Kolte-Patil Developers, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals, among others. Click here for the full list

Outlook for October 17

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities:

Markets continued to witness range-bound trend with a negative bias amid weak Asian cues as selective profit-taking was seen in banking, realty and IT stocks, whereas buying in metal, auto and consumer durable stocks helped markets curb losses.

Investors are trading cautiously in an uncertain global environment as ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict coupled with weak overseas fundamentals and persistent FII selling have dampened sentiment.

Technically, the Nifty hovered between 19700 to 19780, and has formed an inside body candle formation which is indicating incisiveness between the bulls and bears. For the bulls, 19800 would be the immediate breakout level, above the same the index could rally till 19850-19880. On the flip side, below 19700, the selling pressure is likely to accelerate and could retest the level of 19640-19620.

Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas:

The Nifty opened on a flat note and consolidated in a narrow range to close the day marginally in the red down ~20 points. On the daily charts the Nifty today has formed an Inside Bar pattern which suggests consolidation and also makes the extremes of the range of the previous day candle crucial levels from short term perspective. In this case the extremes of the range are 19805 and 19635. A breach of this on either side shall lead to a trending move in that direction. The daily and hourly momentum indicators provide divergent signals and in such a scenario a consolidation appears high probability. Contraction of the Bollinger bands also supports our sideways outlook on the Index. The range of consolidation is likely to be 19500 – 20100 from short term perspective.

Bank Nifty has also halted its fall and is in the process of recovering. Today’s low around 44000 shall act as a pivot point and until that is not breached on the downside we can expect a pullback till 44800 – 45000 from short term perspective.

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