Stock markets erase intra-day gains to end flat; will Nifty surge to touch 15,500 next week?

The street seemed unimpressed by ITC results as the stock closed as the worst Sensex performer for the day.
(Image: REUTERS)

Equity markets moved higher during the initial hours of trade on Friday but were flat on the closing bell. S&P BSE Sensex ended 12.78 points higher at 51,544 while the broader 50-stock NSE Nifty ended the day 10 points lower at 15,163. Volatility index slipped nearly 4%. Banking stocks surged with ICICI Bank as the top Sensex gainer. Bank Nifty ended the day 1% higher. The street seemed unimpressed by ITC results as the stock closed as the worst Sensex performer for the day. It was followed by Sun Pharma, ONGC, and Bharti Airtel.

Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities-

“The market failed to move beyond 15260 and refused to fall below 15100. However, during the week we saw maximum activity in medium-sized and small-sized companies that could hurt the market if they failed to break the 15260 levels. This is a strong market, but recent levels where the Indian stocks are trading are far from recent lower levels, although if we look at the previous data, whenever the Nifty recorded more than 1700 to 2,000 points, it got corrected by 500 to 1,000 points. Based on the chart of large-cap companies, the weakness is increasing in the short term and it would probably lead to a quick correction to the level of 14850 or 14750. If the Nifty crosses 15270 for the 15500 levels, it would be advisable to buy. Below the level of 15100 will lead to further weakness.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services –

“Market can undergo some consolidation after the sharp gains made post the reformist union budget. The broad undercurrent of the market may remain constructive especially on the small and midcaps. But the sentiment of global market will play an important role in deciding the short-term trend which is getting mixed due to weakening European market.”

Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities –

“Index managed to hold the bullish stream throughout the week and closed a week at 15,163 with gains 1.60 percent and formed a small bullish candle on weekly chart. The index has formed good support at 15k mark any dip near said levels will be again buying opportunity for the overall targets of 15250 zone which is the strong hurdle on the higher side. The current range is 15000-15250 zone either side breakout will decide the final direction of index.”

Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments –

“The markets continued their lackluster move throughout the day. This was characterized by less than average volumes on the Nifty futures contract as well. The target of 15500 is still open and traders can accumulate positions for this target with a strict stop below the 14500 mark which is good support for the index. Since the risk-reward ratio is skewed, a buy on intraday corrections would be a prudent way to enter long positions.”

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services-

“Risk appetite trickled down and equities pared gains with several cities across the globe entering fresh lockdowns. Oil’s winning streak was also broken following IEA’s bleaker demand outlook. Indian equities were in the green in the first half with Bank Nifty rising over 1%, but VIX rose in the second half, and traders opted cut down long bets across sectors, going into the weekend.”

Manish Shah, Founder, Niftytriggers-
“Nifty now faces resistance at 15250 and if the index sees a break above 15250 expect a rally to continue to 15500-15550. A break below 14950 and the index could see a drop to the previous swing high at 14750. For short term trades, Nifty has gone in a wait and watch mode. Long-traders having open long positions it would be better to create a hedge against long positions. Or consider booking partial profits. The momentum in the market is seeing a slowdown. In the last couple of days, Nifty daily range has got down to a crawl through individual stocks do show sharp markups. Similar price movement was seen in the second week of October 2020 where Nifty showed deceleration of Momentum. Post this type of a momentum deceleration Nifty showed a decline and a prolonged trading range. Interestingly, most world equity markets are also seeing a deceleration in momentum, barring China.”