Domestic benchmark indices opened on a flat on Tuesday tracking the decisive cues from the Asian peers. The headline indices seesawed between positive and negative zones in the initial few minutes but buying in the select heavyweights pushed the markets higher. US stocks observed a holiday on Monday.
At 9.20 am, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex was trading 108.1 points or 0.18 per cent higher at 60,201.07, whereas NSE’s Nifty50 index added 29 points or 0.16 per cent to Rs 17,932.85. Broader markets underperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices were trading marginally lower. Fear gauge India VIX was slightly up at 15.09-mark.
“We expect the index to extend the ongoing consolidation in the 18,300-17,800 range. Key point to highlight is that the index has bounced from the key support of 17,800 on multiple occasions over the past three weeks, indicating buying demand at an elevated support base of 100 days EMA placed at 17,800,” said ICICIDirect Research.
Buying in energy, utilities, power, capital goods, IT and technology counters supported the indices, whereas selling pressure was seen in sectors like healthcare, auto, metals and realty counters. The tug of war between bulls and bears and sectoral rotation kept the movement range-bound in the early trade.
On Nifty50 Index, Hindustan Unilever jumped 2 per cent, leading the gainers. It was followed by HCL Technologies, L&T, NPTC, Infosys, UPL and ONGC which added a per cent each. Tata Consumer Products, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Hindalco and M&M were among the top losers on the NSE’s benchmark index.
The dominant trend impacting the near-term texture of the market is the sustained selling by FIIs for the eleventh time this month. There is selling even in bluechip names like HDFC Bank, that too, after impressive Q3 results, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“The simple logic behind sustained FII selling is that India is the only large market where FIIs are still sitting on good profits after the disastrous 2022 performance in most global markets. FIIs are playing it safe by moving money to cheaper markets where there is valuation comfort,” he said.
In the broader markets, Spencer Retail, Speciality Restaurants and SEPC jumped 7-9 per cent each. Tanfac Industries, KBC Global, Hi-Tech Pipes and MRPL jumped up to 5 per cent each. Kesoram Industries, Rama Steel Tubes, Sanghi Industries and Nykaa plunged 4-6 per cent each. DB Realty and Vishnu Chemicals was also among the top laggards.
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