The Indian stock market closed on a muted note, with benchmark index Sensex closing almost unchanged on expiry day and Nifty ending below 24,100 as investors digested the rising uncertainties around the Iran-US war.
Sensex gained a mere 1 point to end at around 77,187, and Nifty 50 dropped around 6 points to close at nearly 24,073 on Thursday. Broader markets slipped into the red, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices closing up to 0.4% lower.
Here's how analysts read the market pulse
With many companies reporting their Q1 results in the coming days, the market is likely to respond to the results, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
“Financials-both banks and NBFCs- are likely to report a good set of numbers aided by robust credit growth now running at 18%. Automobiles is a sector to watch closely since the growth numbers for Q1 would be impressive and the sector continues to exhibit momentum, aided by GST cuts and easy availability of finance. Most segments of the sector -cars, SUVs, two-wheelers, commercial vehicles, exports- are doing well. Digital platform companies, too, will be reporting good growth numbers,” according to the analyst.
US stocks
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Thursday as renewed weakness in chip stocks overshadowed an upbeat start to second-quarter earnings, while investors parsed fresh economic data for clues on the health of the economy.
Semiconductor stocks extended losses from the previous session. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index fell 3.8%.
European markets
European stocks edged lower on Thursday following more tech troubles in Asia, while benign U.S. inflation data helped keep the dollar and government bond yields under control and the Iran war propped up oil prices.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index shed 0.4% to 638.83 points, with utilities, down 1.1%, leading broad-based sectoral losses.
A surge in energy-sector profits is set to help European blue-chip companies post their strongest earnings growth in more than three years, according to LSEG forecasts published on Thursday as the reporting season gets underway.
Companies in Europe's benchmark index STOXX 600 are forecast to report earnings growth of 16.7% in the second quarter, according to LSEG IBES data, based on results from 28 companies and market estimates for those that are yet to report.
Tech view
The Nifty index continues to trade within a narrow range, reflecting a consolidation phase with a neutral undertone, said Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. The analyst noted that the index technically is expected to find strong support in the 23,950–24,000 zone, while the 24,250–24,300 region is likely to act as an immediate resistance, with a broader hurdle placed near 24,500.
“Option chain data also indicates the highest put writing at the 24,000 strike, reinforcing it as a key support level. Considering the current technical setup, a buy-on-dips near support and sell-on-rise near resistance strategy remains appropriate,” Bhuva further said.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
MRPL (Rs 3,525 crore), Dixon Tech (Rs 3,271 crore), Torrent Pharma (Rs 2,521 crore), BHEL (Rs 2,364 crore), Kalyan Jewellers (Rs 2,338 crore), ICICI Lombard (Rs 2,091 crore) and Himadri Speciality (Rs 2,039 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 30 crore), MRPL (Traded shares: 20.43 crore), Groww (Traded shares: 7.45 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 6.75 crore), BHEL (Traded shares: 5.57 crore), Yes Bank (Traded shares: 5.34 crore) and Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 4.56 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
MRPL, Emmvee Photovoltaic, Chennai Petro, ABB India, Dixon Tech, Himadri Speciality and IEX were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
52-week high
Among the ones which hit their 52-week highs on NSE included Emmvee Photovoltaic, Chennai Petro, ABB India, Himadri Speciality, Zydus Wellness, BHEL and Sai Life Science.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were ICICI Lombard, Signatureglobal India, Nuvoco Vistas Corp, ITC Hotels, Groww, HDFC AMC and Go Digit General Insurance.
52-week low
Among the ones which hit their 52-week lows on NSE included ICICI Lombard, Go Digit General Insurance and Vedanta.
Sentiment meter favours bulls
Out of the 3,431 stocks that traded on the NSE on July 16, Thursday, 1,542 stocks witnessed advances, 1,774 saw declines while 115 stocks remained unchanged.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
