The Indian benchmark indices ended lower for the second consecutive day on November 18 with Nifty closing around 18,300 amid selling across the sectors barring PSU banks.
At Close, the Sensex was down 87.12 points or 0.14 percent at 61,663.48, while the Nifty was down 36.20 points or 0.20 percent at 18,307.70.
After a flat with a positive bias start, the market erased the gains and remained in the negative territory throughout the session. However, some buying was witnessed in the last half hour of the trade, which helped mitigate the losses.
For the week, both BSE Sensex and Nifty50 indices slipped 0.2 percent each.
HCL Technologies, HUL, Asian Paints, SBI and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top Nifty gainers, while the biggest losers were M&M, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, IndusInd Bank and Maruti Suzuki.
Barring Nifty PSU Bank (up 1.5 percent), all other sectoral indices ended in the red with the Nifty auto index shedding 1 percent and the pharma index slipping 0.6 percent.
The BSE midcap and the smallcap indices were down 0.4 percent.
On the BSE, the auto index fell 1 percent while capital goods, oil & gas and power indices were down 0.5 percent.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 200 percent was seen in Escorts, Punjab National Bank and Mahanagar Gas.
A long build-up was seen in Birlasoft, Punjab National Bank and Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, while a short build-up was seen in Glenmark Pharma, Navin Fluorine International and Rain Industries.
On the BSE, Bharti Airtel, Archies, Engineers India, Dredging Corporation Of India, Godfrey Phillips, Indian Bank, Lemon Tree Hotels, Bank Of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank, UCO Bank and Union Bank Of India Touched their 52-week high on the BSE.
On the other hand, Educomp Solutions, Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals, Infobeans Technologies, Jet Airways, Lux Industries, Mastek, Quess Corp, Relaxo Footwears and Volats touched their 52-week low.
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
The Nifty witnessed muted action in the week gone by & ultimately posted a negative weekly close after four consecutive positive weeks.
The short term momentum indicators have been showing negative divergence, which is a sign of weakness & the price action is expected to follow the suit.
Going ahead, the Nifty is expected to tumble towards 18100-18000 in the short term. On the higher side, 18450 has been acting as a resistance for the index & will continue to act as a cap for the short term.
The broader end of the market is expected to see deeper cut in the short term.
Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking:
Markets traded volatile and ended marginally lower, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase. After the flat start, the Nifty index gradually inched lower as the session progressed however recovery in the final hours pared the losses significantly. It finally settled at 18307 levels; down by 0.2%.
All the sectoral indices, barring PSU banking, traded in tandem and ended lower.
Markets are indicating the prevailing consolidation to continue and Nifty should decisively cross 18,450 levels to regain strength. Meanwhile, we reiterate our view to focus more on sector/stock selection citing restricted participation. Besides, we’re observing breakout failures across sectors, so maintain strict risk management rules also in place.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own, not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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