The Indian benchmark indices ended flat on August 26 in a volatile session on the last day of the August F&O series. At close, the Sensex was up 4.89 points, or 0.01 percent, at 55,949.10, and the Nifty was up 2.20 points, or 0.01 percent, at 16,636.90.
“Amid weak global cues, the domestic market traded cautiously with a positive bias. Renewed tension between China and the US along with the fear of a rise in the Delta variant capped the gains in the Asian market,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Globally, investors were awaiting the Fed Reserve’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on August 27 to gain insights on asset tapering plans and economic outlook, he said
Britannia Industries, Tata Consumer Products, HDFC Life, BPCL and Reliance Industries were the top Nifty gainers. Bharti Airtel, JSW Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco Industries and Power Grid were among the top losers.
The broader market outperformed the benchmarks, with BSE midcap and smallcap indices adding 0.3 percent each.
Among sectors, except FMCG and energy, all other indices ended in the red. The metal index shed more than a percent.
Stocks & sectors
On the BSE, the metal index shed over 1 percent. Selling was also seen in auto, healthcare and IT names. However, FMCG, oil & gas, realty and power indices ended in the green.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 500 percent was seen in Canara Bank, NMDC and Vodafone Idea.
Long buildup was seen in Motherson Sumi, Canara Bank and HUL, while short buildup was seen in Federal Bank, Cipla and Infosys.
More than 100 stocks, including Tata Consumer Products, Godrej Consumer Products and Ajmera Realty, hit a 52-week high on the BSE.
Technical View
The Nifty formed a Doji candle on the daily scale as it closed near its opening levels and negated its higher highs, higher lows formation of the last three sessions.
“It has to continue to hold above 16,600 zones to extend the move towards the life-time-high territory of 16,700-16,750 zones, while on the downside, support is seen at 16,500 and 16,380 levels,” said Chandan Taparia, Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Outlook for August 27
Ashis Biswas, Head, Technical Research, CapitalVia Global Research
The market witnessed another day of consolidated movement and an attempt to hold 16,600. It will be crucial for the index to sustain above 16,500 in the short term. If the market is unable to sustain 16500, it can slip to 16,350.
Technical indicators suggest a volatile movement in the market in a narrow range of 16,350-16,700.
Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities
The index closed flat for the second consecutive day at 16,637 and formed a Doji sort of pattern for the previous session.
The index has formed a strong hurdle zone around 16,700 and till it crosses the level, we may see capping of the up move. The index may also see profit-booking towards 16,500, which is a strong base on the downside where traders can initiate fresh long keeping stop out level below 16,400 on a closing basis. If the Nifty breaks above 16,700, we may see a quick move towards 17,000.
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