The Indian equity market looked indecisive on November 17 for a major part of the day but came under heavy selling pressure at the fag-end of the weekly expiry session that dragged the indices lower by nearly 0.4 percent.
At close, the 30-share pack Sensex recovered slightly from the day’s lows and settled 230 points or 0.37 percent lower at 61,751 while the broader Nifty slipped 65.8 points or 0.36 percent to 18,344.
Earlier, the benchmarks opened flat with a negative bias tracking weak Asian peers as US markets ended in the red the previous day.
According to experts, with the end of the earnings season, markets are looking for fresh triggers to give them direction while the comments by the US Fed members are not giving any clear indication about any shift in the Fed’s stance towards the magnitude of interest rate hikes in the upcoming rate-setting meetings.
“Global markets have recently surged on expectations that the Fed may scale back its aggressive rate hike schedule in reaction to easing US inflation statistics, but, the euphoria was, however, dashed by better US retail sales in October and aggressive remarks from Fed officials”, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
The domestic market moved in tandem with the trend and as the domestic market got more expensive, FIIs were seen being cautious, added Nair.
Among sectors, weakness was widespread with only the Nifty PSU Bank index and Nifty Realty bucking the trend and ending on a positive note with gains of 0.8 and 0.04 percent, respectively.
Nifty Auto and Consumer Durables index were the top two laggards as they shed 1.36 percent each. Nifty IT was down 0.9 percent while Pharma and Oil & Gas lost 0.39 percent each. All other sectors were down between 0.15 to 0.39 percent.
Titan Company, M&M, Tata Motors, Apollo Hospital and Eicher Motors were the top losers on the Nifty, with each losing between 1.75 to 2.36 percent.
The gainers were led by Tata Consumer Products which jumped more than 2 percent. Among other top gainers on the Nifty were Adani Enterprises, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel, with each moving higher by 0.6 to 1.6 percent.
Gainers & Losers: 10 stocks that moved the most on November 17
Stocks & sectors
On the BSE, the BSE Capital goods index was the top gainer as it bumped up by one percent while BSE Telecom and BSE Industrial indices gained around 0.5 percent each.
BSE Consumer Durables index was the top drag as it lost 1.65 percent today. BSE Utilities was down 1.5 percent while BSE Auto and Power indices lost close to 1.35 percent each.
The broader indices too were engulfed in weakness today and ended the day in the red. BSE Midcap was down 0.33 percent and BSE Smallcap lost 0.27 percent today.
A long build-up was seen at the counters of ABB, Exide Industries and Tata Consumer Products while a short build-up was witnessed in Info Edge (Naukri), India Cements and Hindustan Copper.
Among specific stocks, a volume spike of more than 1,300 percent was seen in PNB, while the volumes in Shriram Transport Finance and Tata Consumer surged more than 380 and 270 percent each.
Outlook for November 18
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.
Technically, on intraday charts, the index has formed a lower top formation which is broadly negative. However, the medium-term texture of the market is still on the bullish side. We are of the view that 18,400/62,000 could be the immediate hurdle for the bulls. below which, they could retrace till 18,250-18,200/62,450-61,200.
On the flip side, 18,400/62,000 would be the fresh breakout levels for the bulls, above which the index could move up to 18,500-18,535/62,300-6,2500. Contra traders can take long bets near 18,200/61,200 with a strict 18,150/61,000 support stop loss level.
Technical View | Nifty corrects on profit taking, 18,300 is the level to watch
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities
Nifty started lower and remained volatile throughout the day. On a closing basis, Nifty bulls were able to hold the crucial support of 18,300. The RSI (14) on the daily chart has entered a bearish correction. Going forward, a fall below 18,300 may trigger a correction towards 18,100-18,000. On the other hand, resistance is visible at 18,450.
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