Sensex drops 393 pts from day's high, ends 67 pts down; Nifty holds 15,700

Stock market updates: Equity markets ended the last day of the first half of calendar year 2021 (H1-CY21) in the red as US stock futures indicated a weak start on Wall Street later in the day. Dow Jones Futures were down 150 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 2:45 PM while S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq Composite Futures slipped 0.3 per cent each.

In Europe as well, shares fell on Wednesday as worries about rising inflation and the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus hit economically sensitive sectors. The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.9 per cent by mid-morning, with autos tumbling 2.4 per cent. 

In Asia, shares ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.07 per cent but South Korea's Kospi and China's Shanghai Composite added 0.3 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Given this, the frontline S&P BSE Sensex cooled off 393 points from day's high to end at 52,483 levels, down 67 points or 0.13 per cent. The Nifty50 also eased 27 points, or 0.17 per cent, to settle at 15,721 level.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, and Nestle India gained between 0.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent to support the indices even as losses in ICICI Bank, HDFC, HUL, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, and Tech Mahindra capped gains.

Trend in the broader markets was mixed. The BSE MidCap index slipped 0.03 per cent while the BSE SmallCap index ended 0.56 per cent up. 

Sectorally, all but the Nifty IT index ended 0.6 per cent higher. All other indices settled lower with the Nifty Media index down 0.8 per cent and the Nifty Bank index down 0.7 per cent.

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Shares of Uflex hit a fresh lifetime high after they zoomed 20 per cent to Rs 573 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday on the back of a robust March quarter (Q4FY21) result. India's largest multinational flexible packaging company and a global player in polymer sciences posted 163 per cent year on year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 264.7 crore supported by healthy operational performance. READ MORE

5:11 PM

MARKET OUTLOOK :: Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities

Nifty continues to remain in medium term uptrend with buying advisable on aggressive dips; Expect volatility before momentum support gets triggered. In the near term expect range bounce movement as short term indicators are stretched. IT, Metals and Pharma are expected to do well while BFCI and Midcap stocks can be bought on corrections

4:59 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities

Indian benchmark equity indices lost all the intraday gains and ended lower in a volatile session for the third consecutive session on June 30. Nifty opened higher and rose in the initial part of the session to touch an intra day high of 15839 at 1215 pm. It later started to fall and closed near the intra day low. At close, the Nifty was down 27 points or 0.17% at 15721.50. For the month Nifty closed up 0.89%, while for the quarter it closed up 7%.

 

Volumes on the NSE were again lower than recent averages. Among sectors, IT & Energy were the main gainers while Power and Bank were the main losers. BSE Midcap ended flat, while Smallcap index gained 0.5 percent.

 

Nifty closed up the month and quarter, but fell for the third consecutive day. Advance decline ratio has become equal. This suggests tug of war between bulls and bears, where nobody seems to be winning for now. 15674 is the crucial support while 15772 is the resistance for the near term. So far the falls in the Nifty have been muted. We are almost at the end of the results season, hence the focus could shift from stocks to the index or largecaps for the next fortnight.

4:46 PM

MARKET OUTLOOK :: What should your strategy be as Nifty ends lower for 3rd day

For the third day in a row, Nifty failed to sustain at higher levels and closed at the lowest point of the day. In the absence of any specific news flow from the domestic markets, domestic markets followed global cues which are trading with negative bias. The dollar index held gains that would keep the sentiment of the market subdued.
 

Technically, the market has formed a double top at 15,835 levels and closed below the lowest of the previous day, which was at 15,724. Based on that, Nifty may fall to 15,650-15,620 levels.  However, as the underline trend of the market is still positive and range-bound, our strategy should be to buy between 15,650-15,600 levels.  Keep a final stop loss at 15,550 for the same. On the up-side, 15,770 and 15,840 would be major hurdles.

Views by: Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities

 

4:36 PM

MARKET RECAP :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Though the spread of the delta variant remained a concern in the Asian market, the domestic market took a breather as the market’s focus on declining domestic cases lifted its mood today. However, negative sentiments from global markets dropped investor’s risk appetite forcing the market to close flat. The global markets are eyeing  the release of the US  job data for June due this week, which is crucial for the US Fed’s monetary policy decision.

4:26 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

Markets ended almost on a flat note amid volatility, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase. The benchmark initially opened on a firm note and inched higher in the first half however underperformance of the banking majors combined with profit taking in select index majors dragged the indices lower in the latter half. Consequently, the Nifty index ended lower by 0.2% at 15,722 levels. Amongst the sectors, banking, oil gas and realty were the top losers whereas IT and consumer durables ended with gains.

 

Global cues and updates on the new variant of Coronavirus would continue to dictate the trend in near future. On the domestic front, participants will also be closely eyeing the auto sales and PMI data for cues. Meanwhile, we reiterate our advice to restrict naked leveraged positions and wait for clarity.

4:15 PM

TECH VIEW :: Nifty index forms bearish candle for the third consecutive day

Nifty index forms bearish candle for the third consecutive day.

Good support for the index is near 15,675 zone. If it manages to hold the level then a bounce back can be expected. However, any break below this support level can see additional pressure.

Strong resistance is placed near 15,800-15,900 zone and traders can book profit on any rise.

Views by: Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

4:04 PM

MARKET RECAP :: Indices continue to consolidate ahead of Q1FY22 earnings season

Markets started on a strong note but gave up gains in the afternoon session on profit booking. The broader markets, however, saw plenty of action across specific themes. Paper stocks stood out today with the top three players witnessing smart accumulation. Being the last day of the first quarter, the Street now braces for the earnings to kick in early next month.

Views by: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

3:59 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Top gainers of the day

3:58 PM

NSE Snapshot :: Top Nifty50 gainers of the day

3:55 PM

Index contributors :: ICICI Bank, HDFC duo, HUL weigh on Sensex today

3:53 PM

Broader market :: BSE SmallCap index manages to hold gains, ends 0.56% higher

3:51 PM

Broader markets :: BSE MidCap index ends flat with a negative bias

3:48 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE :: All except IT end in the red

3:47 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close

Top gainers: Infy, RIL, Nestle India

Top losers: Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank

3:40 PM

CLOSING BELL

The frontline S&P BSE Sensex cooled off 393 points from day's high to end at 52,483 levels, down 67 points or 0.13 per cent. The Nifty50 also eased 27 points, or 0.17 per cent, to settle at 15,721 level.