ndian equity benchmark ended lower on January 16 amid volatility, with the Sensex closing 168.21 points, or 0.28 percent down at 60,092.97 and the Nifty falling 61.80 points, or 0.34 percent, to 17,894.80.
After a gap-up start, the market remained positive for a couple of hours amid buying in the information technology (IT), power and PSU banking stocks but mid-session profit booking in metal, auto and banking names erased all the gains.
Stocks and sectors
Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank, Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel and TCS were among the top losers on the Nifty. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Hero MotoCorp gained the most.
Also Read: Exports decline by 12.2% to $34.48 billion in December, trade deficit at $23.76 billion
Among sectors, the Nifty PSU bank index added 1.5 percent, IT index a percent and the energy index added 0.6 percent. The metal index closed 1.3 percent down and bank, auto and infra indices lost 0.5 percent each.
The BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended flat.
On the BSE, IT and power indices gained a percent each, while auto, bank and metal shed 0.5-1 percent.
Also Read: WPI inflation softens further, eases to 4.95% in December
More than 100 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE. These included Federal Bank, Kamat Hotels, L&T Finance Holdings, Apollo Micro Systems, CG Power and Veritas.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 200 percent was seen in L&T Finance Holdings, Manappuram Finance and Indiamart Intermesh.
A short build-up was seen in PVR, Astral and Adani Enterprises. A long build-up was seen in Punjab National Bank, Aurobido Pharma and L&T Finance Holdings.
Outlook for January 17
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
The Nifty has been witnessing short-term consolidation for the past few weeks. In terms of price patterns, the index has formed a triangle on the daily chart. Towards the end of the last week, the Nifty formed a base near the lower end of the pattern.
Consequently, the index took a leap on the upside & opened gap-up on January 16 but stumbled near the upper end of the pattern.
Till the time the index trades above 17,800 on a closing basis, the pattern is eventually expected to break out on the upside. The Nifty will be set for a larger bounce once it crosses the near-term barrier of 18,050.
Ajit Mishra, VP-Technical Research, Religare Broking
The market has been facing selling pressure on the rise, showing uncertainty among the participants despite favourable cues. We feel it’s prudent to limit positions in the prevailing scenario and wait for a decisive breakout from the 17,800-18,100 zone.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities
The sluggish mood continued as markets moved in a narrow range with a negative bias. Investors are being cautious as the global macroeconomic scenario remains bleak, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have continued to be net sellers in January, so far, dampening the sentiment.
Technically, the market is consolidating within the 17,850 to 18,050 range. On daily charts, the Nifty has formed a bearish candle near the 100-day simple moving average (SMA), which is broadly negative.
We are of the view that 17,800 will act as a sacrosanct support zone for traders and a fresh round of selling is possible only after the dismissal of 17,800. Below the same, the index can slide to 17,700-17,650. On the flip side, 18,000 would be the trend reversal level and above it, the index can climb to 18,100-18,135.
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