Domestic equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red for the second consecutive session on January 20 as the risk appetite of investors remained weak amid concerns over softer quarterly earnings, rate hikes and global economic slowdown.
Sensex opened 43 points higher at 60,901.16 and rose 143 points to an intraday high of 61,001.18. The index, however, failed to hold gains and fell 273 points to an intraday low of 60,585.25.
The index finally closed 237 points, or 0.39 percent, lower at 60,621.77 while the Nifty closed at 18,027.65, down 80 points, or 0.44 percent.
Mid and smallcaps underperformed. The BSE Midcap index fell 0.66 percent while the Smallcap index declined 0.50 percent.
The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to ₹280.2 lakh crore from ₹281.8 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors poorer by ₹1.6 lakh crore in a single session.
Crude oil prices saw an uptick; Brent Crude traded near the $87 per barrel mark. The rupee rose 23 paise to close at 81.12 per dollar.
"Shaking off the weak lead from Wall Street, domestic indices attempted to trade higher due to economic optimism that stemmed from China’s reopening. However, concerns over the global economic slowdown eventually caught up and dragged markets lower. All sectors bled, barring banking stocks, ahead of the release of key earnings by private banking majors," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Top Sensex gainers: Shares of Power Grid, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC and Tata Motors ended as the top gainers in the Sensex index.
Top Sensex losers: Shares of Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Nestle and Bajaj Finserv ended as the top laggards in the Sensex kitty of stocks.
Sectoral picture
Most sectoral indices ended in the red. Nifty Media and Consumer Durables indices fell over a percent each. Nifty FMCG, Metal, Pharma, Healthcare and Realty indices fell almost a percent each.
Banking stocks gained ahead of the release of December quarter earnings by private banking majors.
Among the gainers, Nifty Bank and Private Bank indices rose 0.4 percent each. Nifty Financial Services inched up 0.2 percent.
Technical views by experts
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas highlighted that the Nifty continued consolidation just above the 20 WMA for yet another week.
"On the weekly chart, it formed a Doji pattern for the second consecutive week. This shows indecision in the minds of the market participants. The daily chart reveals that the index has moved out of a base triangle formation. Post the breakout, however, the Nifty is witnessing a brief consolidation before it embarks on a larger up move," said Ratnaparkhi.
"Immediate support is at 18,000 where fresh buying interest can be seen. The short-term bullish stance holds true as long as the Nifty trades above the swing low of 17,760. On the higher side, the Nifty is expected to surpass the key hurdle zone of 18,260-18,300 and head towards 18,500," said Ratnaparkhi.
As per Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, Nifty remained sideways during the week as the benchmark index failed to provide any directional movement. On the higher end, it failed to reclaim the 50-day exponential moving average, which is considered a line of polarity between bullish and bearish market sentiment for the short term.
"The sentiment remains indecisive as the Nifty forms a back-to-back Doji pattern on the weekly chart. However, the long-term bullish setup remains intact, with the higher top, higher bottom formation remaining in force. On the lower end, support is intact at 17,750, and resistance on the higher end is pegged at 18,300. Breakout on either end to confirm the directional trend," said De.
Key market data
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of MintGenie.
