The Indian stock market extended gains on Friday, although Middle East uncertainties capped gains for the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty which closed only marginally higher.
Sensex gained over 3 points to close at around 77,541 while Nifty 50 rose 20 points to end the session at 24,252. Broader markets performed better, with Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.6%.
Power Grid shares jumped around 3%, while Bharat Electronics (BEL) and Kotak Mahindra Bank shares gained over 1%. NTPC, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints shares meanwhile rose nearly 1% each. Bucking the trend, Trent and Maruti Suzuki shares dropped over 1.5%, while those of IndiGo and HCLTech were down more than 1% each.
Among the sectors, Nifty Metal gained around 0.9% to lead gains, while Nifty FMCG and Nifty Auto declined 0.6-0.7%. The overall market breadth remained positive, with NSE seeing 1,885 advances against 1,634 declines, while 125 stocks remained unchanged.
What lies ahead for Dalal Street?
The Indian stock market was largely restricted within range today, with the Sensex and Nifty moving modestly higher, reflecting a balancing act of positive domestic factors versus continued global uncertainties, said Vikram Kasat, Chief Business Officer, Advisory and Dealing at PL Capital. He noted that the positive trend was driven by buying interest in select stocks, with IT stocks under pressure due to cautious investor sentiment globally.
High crude prices, geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, and problems in the international bond market have been affecting risk-taking tendencies. On the other hand, some of the financials, metals, and small-caps have been contributing towards the positive side of the equation.
“Moving ahead, the markets will continue to be highly volatile and stock-specific, with crude prices, foreign fund inflows, rupee movement, and international trends being some of the key factors,” according to the analyst.
Technical view on Nifty
Nifty remained range-bound during the day, with the index confined between the 20 EMA and 50 EMA on the hourly chart, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. He added that on the daily chart as well, the index remained within the bands of the 20 EMA and 50 EMA.
“The RSI remains in a bearish crossover. Overall, sentiment remains sideways to mildly positive. On the lower end, support is placed at 24,200. A fall below 24,200 might trigger a correction towards 24,000. On the higher end, resistance is placed at 24,350; a rise above this level might take the index towards 24,500,” he explained.
(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
