Sensex ends choppy session in red; Nifty bulls to aim for 17500-17707 in near term

BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 ended the Friday’s volatile session in red. BSE Sensex fell 31 points to end at 58191, while NSE Nifty 50 settled at 17,314.65. Stocks of index heavyweights such as TCS, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, and ITC, among others contributed the most to the indices’ fall. BSE MidCap index fell 39 points or 0.15 per cent to end at 25,385, while S&P BSE SmallCap added 0.3 per cent or 87 points to end at 29,183. India VIX, the volatility index, fell 2.6 per cent to finish at 18.81 levels.

Prashanth Tapse – Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities

Joseph Thomas, Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management

The domestic equity markets remained volatile throughout the week mainly in response to global developments. The likelihood of further aggressive tightening by the Fed and the other central banks, the continuing depreciation of emerging market currencies, the potential for an economic slowdown in the global economy etc. have been the major factors that have influenced the markets. What has been impacting the markets most is the aggressive stance of the Fed which might expose the US economy to a full-fledged economic slowdown. Such an event may have consequences for the whole world. The geopolitical tensions which are mainly from Eastern Europe and the decision of OPEC to cut production and supply also challenged the markets. These factors will continue to hold their sway in the coming weeks too.

Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities

On the technical front, Immediate support and resistance in Nifty 50 are 17200 and 17500 respectively. Bank Nifty immediate support and resistance are 39000 and 39800 respectively.

Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities

The underlying uptrend of Nifty remains intact. The consolidation movement may be extended in early part of next week and the market could eventually witness sharp upside bounce from the lows by next week. A decisive upside breakout of the hurdle of 17450 is likely to pull Nifty towards another important resistance of 18000-18100 levels. Immediate support is placed at 17200 levels.