Sensex jumps 3rd day in a row, ends 221 points up, Nifty settles above 18,050; resistance at 17945-18109

Bulls managed to sustain grip on Dalal street on Tuesday as Indian equity markets ended the volatile session in green for the third straight day. After fluctuating 408 points through the day, the BSE Sensex index closed 221 points or 0.37 per cent higher at 60,617, while Nifty50 settled at 18,056 levels, up 52.45 points or 0.29 per cent. HDFC, RIL, HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers in the Sensex pack. On the downside, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, ITC, and Dr Reddy’s were the top laggards. Sectorally, Nifty metal index fell over 2%, while buying was seen in the IT, power, oil & gas and realty stocks. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended flat. HCL Technologies, Adani Ports, ONGC, HDFC and Tech Mahindra were the top Nifty gainers, while JSW Steel, Tata Steel, BPCL, Hindalco Industries and Coal India were the losers.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

“Domestic benchmark indices showcased a flattish trend with positive bias as the market weighed the expectations of a strong quarter amid concerns over rising cases, supply issue and inflationary pressure. Global market was on the edge as Fed meeting minutes hinted at rate hikes, elevated US inflation and the awaited release of US CPI inflation data. Domestic inflation levels are also likely to be significant due to unfavourable base effect though food prices have declined during December.”

Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities

“Asians Markets are giving mixed cues due to rising cases of omicron and record hospitalisation in the US due to covid-19 on Monday. Meanwhile, TRAI in its latest report announced that revenues of the Telecom sector declined on YoY for Q2FY2022. In stock specific, Vodafone Idea crashed almost 21% after the company announced that government will hold 36% stake in the company after the board approved conversion of outstanding obligations into equity. The latest report published by Reserve Bank of India showed Foreign Direct Investment by Indian Companies fell by over 8% in December 2021. Investor sentiments remained positive as Commerce and Industry minister Mr Piyush Goyal called upon the concerned stakeholders for suggestions to take India to the top 25 in the Global Innovation Index. Last year India was positioned at 46.”

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities

“Asian equities struggled to find direction on Tuesday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee, hoping for clues to the timing of expected policy tightening. European stocks bounced back from their biggest decline in six weeks as Treasury yields steadied a day before a key American inflation reading helped by strong economic data, suggesting the region may be weathering the hit from the Omicron variant more strongly than when the Covid-19 virus first hit. Nifty has shown deceleration in the upward momentum on Jan 11 with advance decline ratio turning slightly negative. This could be an indication of the trend getting mature and Nifty showing signs of fatigue after the recent sharp upward correction. 17945-18109 could be the band for the Nifty in the near term.”

Palak Kothari, Research Associate, Choice Broking

“On the technical front, Nifty has been trading with higher high & higher low formation for the last three days and sustained above the falling trendline which suggests an upside rally in the counter. Moreover, the index has been trading above 21&50-DMA as well as a momentum indicator MACD & STOCHASTIC are trading with a positive crossover on the daily time-frame which suggests strength in the counter. At present, the Index has support at 17700 levels while resistance comes at 18100 levels, crossing above the same can show 18200-18300 levels. On the other hand, Bank nifty has support at 37800 levels while resistance at 38800 levels.”