Indian markets witnessed profit-booking for the second consecutive session on November 17, dragged by realty, oil & gas and pharma stocks even as auto stocks, like in the previous session, provide some support.
At close, the Sensex was down 314.04 points, or 0.52 percent, at 60,008.33 and the Nifty was down 100.50 points, or 0.56 percent, at 17,898.70.
The market started weak and remained under selling pressure to end near the day’s low, with the Nifty closing below 17,900.
“Robust US retail sales data failed to inspire global markets, as domestic indices were seen trading with a negative bias to close deep in the red,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Rising inflation in the UK—4.2 percent in October, up from 3.1 percent in the previous month—has begun to sour investor mood, adding to inflationary worries, he said.
“US October retail sales data rose 1.7 percent MoM, beating estimates. The surge in fresh Covid cases is keeping global investors on the edge, fanning fears of an economic slowdown. On the domestic front, the auto sector was in focus as reports suggested relief in semi-conductor shortages,” Nair added.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE midcap index closed 0.2 percent down and the smallcap index ended flat.
UPL, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Britannia Industries and IOC were among the major Nifty losers. Gainers included SBI Life Insurance, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Power Grid.
Among sectors, the Nifty pharma index shed over a percent, while Nifty bank and energy indices were down 0.5 percent each. The auto index added 0.7 percent.
Stocks and sectors
On the BSE, oil & gas and realty indices fell a percent each, while auto, healthcare and power indices ended in the green.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 300 percent was seen in Escorts, Bank of Baroda and Apollo Hospitals.
Long buildup was seen in Birlasoft, GSPL and Apollo Hospitals, while short buildup was seen in BPCL, Axis Bank and Ipca Laboratories.
More than 200 stocks, including Voltamp Transformers, M&M and Tata Motors, hit a 52-week high on the BSE.
Technical View
The Nifty formed a small-bodied bearish candle on the daily scale. It has been forming lower tops, lower bottoms, indicating a limited upside.
The index has to cross and hold above 18,000 for an up move towards 18,200 and 18,350. On the downside, support is intact at 17,777 and 17,650, said Chandan Taparia, Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Outlook for November 18
Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities
The index managed to breach its rising trend line support of 17,900, which hints at more pressure if the index falls to 17,800-17,700, the next support for the Nifty. Resistance is near 17,950-18,000. The index has to go past 18,000 to gain strength.
Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking
Feeble global cues are weighing on sentiment and there’s nothing much to cheer on the domestic front as well. Indications favour further slide but the pace would be gradual.
The Nifty has next support around 17,800-17,700. In case of a rebound, 18,000 will act as a hurdle. Participants should align their positions accordingly.
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
The Nifty has entered the near term support zone of 17,900-17,800. The hourly chart shows that the index has reached lower end of the rising channel with a minor breach on the downside.
The junction of 40-day exponential moving average and the swing low on the daily chart, which is near 17,800, will be the key support to watch out for.
There is scope for a bounce back as long as the index holds 17,800 on a closing basis. On the higher side, the near-term hurdle is at 18,000-18,050.
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