Nifty ended in the negative territory for the second day on the trot as investors remained cautious owing to global uncertainty.
The Russia-Ukraine war has eroded investor confidence as concerns over a prolonged after-effect of the war mounts.
Nifty opened at 17,094.95 against the previous close of 17,245.65 and after the initial dip, the benchmark index swung in a narrow range. Eventually Nifty settled 23 points, or 0.13 percent, lower at 17,222.75. Nifty Private Bank index fell 1.79 percent, Nifty Bank 1.72 percent and Nifty Financial Services 1.56 percent. Nifty Consumer Durables index closed with a loss of 1.62 percent.
Mazhar Mohammad, Founder & Chief Market Strategist, Chartviewindia.in, observed that Nifty50 appears to be chalking out a consolidation zone between 17,000 and 17,450 levels.
"In line with that outlook, the index opened with a gap down but by the end of the session, it managed to recoup almost half of the losses from the intraday low of 17,090. Hence, in the next session, if bulls manage to defend 17,090 then the trend can remain sideways with positive bias. However, strength in the index should not be expected unless it closes above 17,450," said Mohammad.
"A close below 17,000 can trigger a fresh leg of short term downswing. It looks prudent to remain neutral on the index for the next day," he added.
As per media reports, Western leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss increasing military aid to Ukraine and all eyes are on the outcome of this summit as it could provide the direction to the lingering Russia-Ukraine tension.
For the Nifty index, Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking believes indications are in the favour of further consolidation in the index, however, the prevailing underperformance from the banking pack is denting sentiment. Among the sectors, IT, metal and pharma look strong to us so participants should align their positions accordingly, he said.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, pointed out Nifty is facing strong resistance near 17,300-17,400 levels while 17,000 is proving support for now.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of MintGenie.
