Top buy & sell ideas by Ashwani Gujral, Sudarshan Sukhani, Prakash Gaba for short term

The Nifty50 continued to be rangebound for the second consecutive session and closed the August expiry day on a flat note with a negative bias on Thursday.

The index opened flat and remained weak throughout the session, forming small bearish candle, which resembles like a 'Hammer' kind of pattern on the daily candlestick charts.

The market recovered from intraday low in the late trade but that does not change the short term outlook, experts said, adding the index is expected to be weak and remained in a consolidation mode.

The Nifty Midcap index continued to outperform frontline indices, rising 0.13 percent while the sectoral trend remained mixed with Nifty Bank, Auto and Financial Service falling around half a percent each. FMCG and Pharma indices gained over a percent each.

The Nifty50 opened below 11,700-mark at 11,694.75, tad higher over previous day's close of 11,691.90. In early trade itself, it touched an intraday high of 11,698.80 but immediately turned lower to hit an intraday low of 11,639.70 (down 52 points) in the last hour of trade. It managed to recoup some losses in the late trade and closed 15.10 points lower at 11,676.80.

According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 11,644.73, followed by 11,612.67. If the index starts moving upwards, key resistance levels to watch out are 11,703.83 and 11,730.87.

The Nifty Bank index closed at 28,103.25, down 120.85 points on Thursday. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 27,965.44, followed by 27,827.67. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 28,237.34, followed by 28,371.47.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, top market experts recommend which stocks to bet on for good returns:

Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com

Buy Glenmark Pharma with a stop loss of Rs 654, target of Rs 680

Buy ICICI Bank with a stop loss of Rs 340, target of Rs 354

Buy Sun Pharma with a stop loss of Rs 634, target of Rs 660

Buy NIIT Tech with a stop loss of Rs 1340, target of Rs 1380

Buy Tata Steel with a stop loss of Rs 600, target of Rs 625

Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com

Buy ACC with a stop loss at Rs 1610 and target of Rs 1670

Buy Ajanta Pharma with a stop loss at Rs 1235 and target of Rs 1280

Buy Godrej Consumer with a stop loss at Rs 1425 and target of Rs 1485

Sell ICICI Prudential with a stop loss at Rs 381 and target of Rs 372

Sell IRB Infra with a stop loss at Rs 194 and target of Rs 185

Prakash Gaba of prakashgaba.com

Buy India Cements with target at Rs 133 and stop loss at Rs 124

Buy ITC with target at Rs 325 and stop loss at Rs 315

Buy Sun Pharma Advanced with target at Rs 425 and stop loss at Rs 390

Buy Tata Steel with target at Rs 620 and stop loss at Rs 602

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com/CNBC-TV18 are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.