These smallcaps gain 10-50% despite the underperformance of broader indices

On the sectoral front, the Nifty Media index shed 5.3 percent, the Nifty Metal index was down 4.6 percent, and the Nifty Energy index fell nearly 2 percent. On the other hand, Nifty Information Technology and FMCG indices added 2 percent each.

During this week, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying, as they bought equities worth Rs 10,945.98 crore. However, Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) turned net sellers as they sold equities worth Rs 4,226.29 crore.

"The progress in the earnings season and the rebalancing of investor portfolios ahead of the union budget have influenced the market this week. Additionally, a global IT outage has caused disruptions in various Indian industries due to issues with computers running on Microsoft. This has impacted the airline services and uncertainty across major economies, banks, and financial services, capping off a turbulent week in the markets," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"Though the expectation for Q1FY24 earnings has subdued, the above-expected results from the IT majors provide scope for an upgrade in earnings for FY25. This has attracted more FII inflow to the IT and other defensive large-cap sector Pharma and FMCG spaces. Further, the market direction will be determined by upcoming budget outcomes. Investors are anticipating pro-industry and populist measures with prudence on fiscal. If the budget meets the expectation, it will provide more stability in the market," he added.

The BSE Small-cap index slipped nearly 3 percent with GTL Infrastructure, Bharat Bijlee, GE Power India, Aurionpro Solutions, Railtel Corporation of India, Avantel, KEI Industries, Zee Media Corporation, Bharat Dynamics, Shipping Corporation of India, Jupiter Wagons down 11-18 percent, while Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), Just Dial, Arihant Capital Markets, Quick Heal Technologies, India Cements, RPG Life Sciences, SG Finserve, OnMobile Global, Apollo Micro Systems, Jindal Worldwide, Pearl Global Industries, VST Industries, Navkar Corporation up 10-50 percent.

Where is Nifty50 headed?

Amol Athawale, VP-Technical Research, Kotak Securities

The current market texture is non-directional and volatile hence level based trading would be the ideal strategy for the traders. 24,500/80,400 and 24,350/80,000 would act as a key support zone for the bulls while 24,850-25,000 / 81,600-82,000 could be the key resistance areas for the traders. However, below 24,350/80000 the sentiment could change. Below the same, positional traders may prefer to exit the trading long positions.

For Bank Nifty now 25-day SMA (Simple Moving Average) and 51750 are immediate support zones while 52800 and 53200 would be the immediate resistance areas for the positional traders.

Osho Krishan, Senior Analyst - Technical & Derivatives, Angel One

As we approach the upcoming Budget week, it is important to note that the volatility index may experience an uptick. This is due to India VIX teetering on the edge of a consolidation breakout on the daily time frame leading up to the Budget week.

As far as levels are concerned, a sustainable plunge below 24,500 is likely to provide some more respite to the benchmark for a potential downside to 24,300-24,200 (20 DEMA) on an intermediate basis, while the sacrosanct support lies at 24,000 mark.

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