Headline indices - Sensex and Nifty - ended flat for the third consecutive session as investors continued booking profit in the frontline stocks after the recent sharp rally.
Market remained choppy throughout the session and sentiment remained fragile amid weak global cues ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meet outcome, due later today. Experts point out that the ECB may give clear hints or even announce a timeline for stimulus tapering and cutting down bond purchase.
As per Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, regulatory crackdown in China, global concerns over the looming reduction in asset purchases ahead of the European Central Bank meeting and slowdown in economic recovery pulled global markets lower.
Sensex closed 55 points, or 0.09 percent, higher at 58,305.07 while Nifty settled with a gain of 16 points, or 0.09 percent, at 17,369.25.
Broader markets, however, clocked decent gains as the BSE Midcap ended 0.56 percent higher and the smallcap index clocked a gain of 0.52 percent.
With this, the Sensex and the Nifty ended the week with a nominal gain of 0.30 percent each. September 10 is a trading holiday for Ganesh Chaturthi.
"There is a slight risk-off mode in global markets in the last few days and this has impacted the bullish sentiment in India, too. Many experts feel that there can be a correction in the largecaps that have been leading the rally this year. So, part of the fresh money is now moving into new areas like PSU banks. But this is likely to be a short-term trend," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Sectors and stocks
Bharti Airtel, Nestle, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv and HCl Tech were the top five gainers from the Sensex kitty.
Among the laggards, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were at the top.
Among the sectors, Nifty Media jumped almost 3 percent while the metal and FMCG sectors rose about a percent each. Realty index, on the other hand, fell nearly a percent.
Nearly 200 stocks, including APL Apollo Tubes, Abbott India, Concor, Dish TV India, Info Edge, Oil India, Voltas and Zensar Technologies, hit their fresh 52-week highs on BSE in intraday trade today.
On the other hand, more than 350 stocks, including Dish TV, Ujjivan Financial Services, Majesco, Future Retail, Future Lifestyle Fashions and Jain Irrigation Systems, hit their upper circuits.
Tech view
On weekly charts, the market has maintained a breakout continuation formation but on intraday charts, it has formed a double top formation which indicates temporary weakness, said Shrikant Chouhan, Executive
Vice President - Equity Technical Research, Kotak Securities.
"While the medium-term trend is still positive, traders may prefer to book profits near resistance levels due to an overstretched rally. For the bulls, 17,250 and 17,200 would be key support levels. Above it, the uptrend formation is likely to continue up to 17,450-17,650 levels," said Chouhan.
"On the flip side, dismissal of 17,200 may fuel further weakness up to 17,100-17,000 levels. Positional traders can take a contra bet near 17,000 support with a strict stop loss at 16,930," Chouhan added.
Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research pointed out it is critical for the market to sustain the level of 17,200-17,250.
"If the market sustains these levels, it can go to the higher levels of 17,500. Technical indicators suggest a volatile movement in the market in a small range between 17,200-17,500," said Biswas.
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