Mid-day Mood: Trade remains lacklustre on weak global cues ahead of Q3 earnings show

Indices struggled for directions in the absence to any major triggers.

The action in the domestic market remained lacklustre on January 10 as investors kept on the sidelines ahead of the onset of the Q3 earnings season. Information technology majors Infosys and TCS are slated to kickstart the Q3 earnings cycle by releasing their quarterly results on Thursday, January 11.

Meanwhile, weak cues from global markets also did little to usher positive momentum among domestic equities.

Around noon, the Sensex was down 43.90 points or 0.06 percent at 71,342.31, and the Nifty was down 24 points or 0.11 percent at 21,520.80.
About 1,644 shares rose, 1,563 fell, and 81 were unchanged.

Trend in the broader market also remained weak as smallcaps as well as midcaps fell prey to profit booking.

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Sectoral trends

Most sectors such as automobile, FMCG, infra, energy, PSU banks, and pharma struggled with losses as investors rushed to book profits.

On the other hand, anticipation of an easing macro environment in 2024 continued to support buying in IT names, which lifted the Nifty IT index to the green.

Fundamental view

"The market is moving up and down without a directional trend. Up moves are countered with selling and down moves are responded with buying. A trend might emerge in the coming days in response to Q3 results," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, Vijayakumar also believes this is a short-term aberration that will correct in the medium- to long-term. "Here, patience is the key. Q3 results starting tomorrow will be keenly watched. Regarding IT, the management commentary will be more important than the results which will be tepid," he added.

Technical view

"Nifty has been hovering between a tight range for some time with a positive bias but needs to breach the 21,700–21,750 zone decisively to indicate a fresh breakout for further upward move," said Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research, Prabhudas Lilladher.

"At the same time, the 21,450 levels, where the 20 DMA (Daily Moving Average) lies, is acting as a strong support zone as of now. With a break below that level, the index can fall further towards the next support, which sits at 21,250," she added.

Key Nifty gainers

Adani Ports and SEZ, Adani Enterprises, Cipla, HCLTech, ICICI Bank

Key Nifty losers

NTPC, ONGC, BPCL, Coal India, Divi's Lab

Key Sensex gainers

TCS, HCLTech, ICICI Bank

Key Sensex losers

NTPC, Ultratech Cements, Bajaj Finserv

Stock moves

Indus Towers: Shares surged 4 percent after brokerage firm BofA Securities double upgraded the stock to “buy” and also raised the target price by almost 80 percent on favourable “risk-reward”. The brokerage raised the target prices to Rs 270 from Rs 148, implying an upside of 28 percent from current levels.

Delta Corp: Shares dropped 3 percent after the company posted weak quarterly earnings. The company recorded a 59 percent decline in its Q3 net profit to Rs 34 crore while revenue also slipped 15 percent on-year.

SpiceJet: Shares soared 5 percent a day before the company's annual general meeting, where the beleaguered airline plans to seek approval from stakeholders to raise Rs 2,250 crore to fuel its expansion and revitalisation.

Also Read | Sensex, Nifty flat amid subdued global cues, investors in wait-and-watch' mode ahead of Q3 earnings

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