The Indian equity benchmark snapped a two-day winning streak to end lower on March 23 amid weak global cues after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, ignoring the banking crisis.
At close, the Sensex was down 289.31 points, or 0.50 percent, at 57,925.28 and the Nifty was down 75 points, or 0.44 percent, at 17,076.90.
After a weak start, the market remained rangebound. Last-hour selling erased all the mid-session gains with the market ending lower.
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Stocks and sectors
State Bank of India, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Auto were among the major Nifty losers. The gainers included Hindalco Industries, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki and JSW Steel.
A mixed trend was seen on the sectoral front. Realty, bank, information technology and PSU bank were down 0.5-1 percent, while buying was seen in metal, FMCG and power names.
The BSE midcap index shed 0.4 percent, while the smallcap index ended flat.
More than 150 stocks touched their 52-week lows on the BSE. These included Rolta, Pritish Nandy Communications, Tanla Platforms, Vakrangee, Mphasis, Thyrocare Technologies, Tide Water Oil and Apex Frozen Foods.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 400 percent was seen in GNFC, Coromandel International and Vedanta.
A short build-up was seen in Hindustan Aeronautics, Gail India and L&T Technology Services, while a long build-up was seen in Manappuram Finance, Bandhan Bank and Coromandel International.
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Outlook for March 24
Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
The Nifty traded with a positive bias in the first half and completely reversed during the second half to end 75 points down.
On the daily charts, 17,180–17,210 acted as a stiff resistance. On the hourly charts, the Bollinger bands contracted, indicating range-bound price action. The hourly momentum indicator has a negative crossover, which also indicates range price action before.
We believe the fall is a retracement of the rise from 16,828–17,207. Overall, the Nifty is expected to hold on to the support zone of 17,020 – 16,970 and resume a pullback over the next few sessions. On the upside, the initial hurdle at 17,180–17,210. If cleared, the index can rise to 17,315- 17,430.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities
Banking stocks came under fire, dragging the market down as a sharp decline in the US markets on the previous day made investors cautious. Though most Asian indices eked out gains on the possibility of the US Fed going soft on hikes ahead, local markets failed to follow suit. Higher valuations and a weak macro-economy prompted investors to book profit.
Technically, the Nifty again failed to clear the short-term resistance of 17,210. The index also formed a double top formation on intraday charts, indicating further weakness.
For the bulls, 17,050-17,000 will act as an important support zone, while 17,200-17,250 will be the resistance area for the short-term traders. The uptrend will be vulnerable below 16,950.
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