Nifty50 finds it tough to breach 10,300 after hitting intra-day high

The benchmark indices came off sharply from their intra-day highs for a second day in a row. The Nifty50 and the Sensex hit an intra-day high of 10,291 and 34,811, respectively, but settled nearly 2.4 per cent lower at 10,047 and 33,957. Market players said the Nifty has run into technical resistance of 10,300, which happens to be its 100-day moving average (DMA).

“The level of 10,300 acted as a major barrier. The market slumped mainly due to sudden weakness in global markets and a surge in the Dollar Index. Worldwide investors are turning cautious on equity as the past rise was significant and uninterrupted. We are also witnessing a similar trend in our markets, however, if the market defends the level of 9,940 then it would be positive for the market. Buying is advisable if the market drops below the level of 9,940 and recovers back. On the higher side, the level of 10,170 would be a major hurdle,” said Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice president, equity technical research, Kotak Securities.

On Monday, the Nifty had hit an intra-day high of 10,329 before ending at 10,167.

“Nifty again witnessed profit booking and resistance at its 100-DMA levels, a crucial level for the index. Our markets also seem to be driven by global cues and European markets opening in the red had an impact on our markets,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

 

“Technically, Nifty has formed ‘bearish candle’ on the weekly chart. However, Nifty has managed to remain above the crucial level of 10,000-mark with immediate support placed at 9,950-9,900 levels while on the upside it faces resistance at 10,300 levels,” added Siddhartha Khemka, head - retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

On Monday, the European stocks closed nearly 2 per cent lower. In the US, while Dow Jones and S&P 500 were in the red, Nasdaq was in the green. 

Tuesday’s fall in the market came despite positive buying by overseas investors. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 491 crore. A day earlier, FPIs had bought shares worth over Rs 800 crore.

Banking stocks weighed on the market performance on Tuesday. The Bank Nifty index fell 2.2 per cent. HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were the biggest drag on Sensex performance. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank and Sun Pharma were the top gainers.
 

The latest fall comes after a 15 per cent rally in the market in just three weeks despite rising Covid-19 infections. The gains were fuelled by aggressive stimulus measures announced by global central banks.