Stock Market Today: Fag-end buying helps Sensex, Nifty end higher on expiry day for May F&O series

The debt ceiling negotiations have dealt a blow to the risk appetite of investors as the US government has not been able to strike a deal so far on raising the debt ceiling.

«Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy held what both sides called productive talks on Wednesday as they race to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling,» reported Reuters.

US dollar and bond yields have been rising as investors are avoiding riskier equities and rushing to safe-haven assets. 

«The US debt ceiling impasse continues to affect markets. Since failure to reach a resolution will have catastrophic consequences for the global economy and markets, a resolution of the crisis at the eleventh hour is the most likely scenario. But markets will be on tenterhooks till then. A global risk-on and rally is the most likely scenario after the resolution of the impasse,» said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Sensex opened 68 points lower at 61,706.13 and remained in the negative territory for the most part of the day, falling about 289 points to an intraday low of 61,484.66. But the index saw fag-end buying and finally closed 99 points, or 0.16 per cent, higher at 61,872.62 while the Nifty ended at 18,321.15, up 36 points, or 0.20 per cent.

Mid and smallcaps outperformed the benchmark; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 0.36 per cent and 0.27 per cent respectively.

Largecaps ITC, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Company, Godrej Consumer Products, Indian Hotels Company and Britannia Industries, were among the 140 stocks that hit their 52-week highs in intraday trade on BSE.

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Crude oil prices fell after reports suggested Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said further production cuts by OPEC+ at its meeting next week were unlikely. Brent Crude traded over a per cent lower near the $77 per barrel mark.

The rupee slipped 7 paise to end at 82.74 per dollar as the greenback hit a two-month high amid uncertainty on debt ceiling negotiations.

Top Nifty Gainers and Losers

In the NIfty50 index, 30 stocks ended with gains while 19 suffered losses and one stock — ONGC — ended flat.

Shares of Bajaj Auto (up 2.95 per cent), Adani Enterprises (up 2.92 per cent) and Bharti Airtel (up 2.82 per cent) ended as the top gainers in the index.

On the flip side, shares of Wipro (down 1.18 per cent), Tata Motors (down 0.94 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (down 0.92 per cent) ended as the top losers in the index.

Top gainers, losers today: Bajaj Auto, Adani Ent, ITC, Tata Motors; check full list here

Realty, FMCG Top Sectoral Gainers

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Realty, with a gain of 1.12 per cent, emerged at the top, followed by Nifty FMCG which rose 0.61 per cent.

Nifty Consumer Durables (up 0.45 per cent) and Metal (up 0.30 per cent) also clocked decent gains.

Among the losers, Nifty PSU Bank (down 0.45 per cent), Healthcare (down 0.21 per cent) and Oil & Gas (down 0.11 per cent) remained at the top.

Nifty Bank index ended flat at 43,681.40 with shares of IDFC First Bank (up 3.11 per cent) as the top gainer.

Experts’ Views on Markets

«Global markets maintained their influence, exerting downward pressure on the domestic market in response to weaker cues from the US market and the recession in Germany. However, as US futures rose, propelled by a sharp increase in sales projections from chipmaker Nvidia, the domestic market was able to efficiently recoup its earlier losses,» said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Ajit Mishra, VP — Technical Research at Religare Broking said: «We feel the prevailing consolidation may continue in the index citing mixed indications. While there’s no shortage of trading opportunities, traders should focus more on handling intermediate volatility. Besides, the focus should be on sectors/stocks which are showing consistency in their trend instead of betting on laggards. To reclaim positivity and momentum, we need a decisive close above 18,400 in Nifty and 44,000 in the banking index.»

Technical Views on Markets

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities observed that after the morning intraday selloff, once again the Nifty took support near 20-day SMA (simple moving average) and bounced back sharply. It also formed a bullish candle on daily charts which supports a further uptrend from the current levels.

«We are of the view that 20-day SMA or 18,220 would be the sacrosanct support zone for the bulls. Above the same, the index could retest the level of 18,400-18,450. On the flip side, below 20-day SMA or 18,220, the uptrend would be vulnerable. Below it, the market could slip to 18,150-18,100,» said Chouhan.

Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said on the daily charts, the Nifty is witnessing buying interest from crucial support levels and the dips are being bought into which is a bullish sign.

Gedia underscored that the daily momentum indicator still has a negative crossover which indicates that the index can consolidate however slowly the structure is turning in favour of the bulls. The daily Bollinger bands are contracting which indicates a contraction of range and also suggests that there could be rangebound price action over the next few trading sessions.

«Overall, we still believe that the Nifty is in a consolidation mode and the range of consolidation is likely to be 18,000 – 18,400. In terms of levels, 18,420 – 18,450 shall act as the immediate hurdle while 18,200 – 18,180 is the crucial support zone to watch out for on the downside,» said Gedia.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.