Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Friday

The Indian stock market saw another session of benchmark indices seeing sharp divergence on Thursday following the closing auction session (CAS), with Sensex ending in the green and Nifty in the red.

Sensex rose 114 points to close at 78,080 on its expiry-day, while Nifty 50 dropped over 40 points to end the session near 24,396. Broader markets closed in the green, with Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices rising up to 0.3%.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse


Softer-than-feared inflation readings in both the US and India provided support to investor sentiment, reinforcing expectations that the Fed and the RBI can maintain a patient policy stance in the near term, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments. Yet, elevated crude oil prices remain a key overhang, with geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East preventing a stronger risk-on move, he added.

“Meanwhile, the ongoing earnings season has broadly reinforced confidence in India's underlying demand environment and corporate resilience, helping cushion the impact of external headwinds. In the near term, market direction is likely to be shaped by developments in energy markets, geopolitical risks and the sustainability of foreign capital inflows,” according to the analyst.

US stocks

The S&P 500 climbed to an intraday record high on Thursday, powered by advances in semiconductor and other heavyweight technology stocks, as a retreat in crude prices and a tame producer price inflation reading lifted risk appetite.

Sandisk and Micron were among the top gainers on the benchmark ‌index, rising 15% ⁠and 5.6%, respectively. ⁠The broader chip index added 1.8% and hit a nearly one-month high.

Technology stocks also boosted the Nasdaq, while the S&P 500 information technology index gained 0.9%, helped by modest ​gains in Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple.

European markets

European shares were muted on Thursday as investors awaited euro zone inflation data following a strong earnings season, while weaker commodity prices also weighed on energy and mining shares.

The pan-European ‌STOXX 600 closed ⁠little changed ⁠at 659.24 points. The benchmark retreated from record highs in the previous session.

Companies in the region are on track for one of the strongest ​earnings seasons in years, with energy and materials sector profit boosted by elevated commodity prices driven by the Middle East conflict.

Tech view

"The Nifty witnessed another lackluster session, remaining confined between the 50EMA and 200DMA on the 30-minute chart. Level-wise, 24,450 will remain an immediate resistance, and a decisive move above this level is required for a meaningful recovery. On the lower end, support is placed at 24,300. A fall below 24,300 might trigger further weakness in the market. Until there is a decisive breakout on either side, the index is likely to remain rangebound, offering limited trading opportunities,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

Bharti Airtel (Rs 2,544 crore), Astral Poly Tech (Rs 1,947 crore), Lenskart Solutions (Rs 1,943 crore), Netweb Technologies (Rs 1,766 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,606 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,606 crore) and Solar Industries (Rs 1,382 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 54.68 crore), Jio Financial Services (Traded shares: 4.87 crore), IFCI (Traded shares: 4.07 crore), Yes Bank (Traded shares: 3.65 crore), Urban Company (Traded shares: 3.24 crore), Lenskart Solutions (Traded shares: 3.22 crore), and Ola Electric (Traded shares: 2.92 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Astral Poly Tech, Solar Industries, Netweb Technologies, Sarda Energy, Godawari Power, Bharti Hexacom and Cyient were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52-week high

Among the ones which hit their 52-week highs on NSE included Solar Industries, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Radico Khaitan, HFCL, Paytm, Ajanta Pharma and Lenskart Solutions.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Aditya Infotech, NALCO, Page Industries, Physicswallah, Apar Industries, Force Motors and Schneider.

52-week low

Among the ones which hit their 52-week lows on NSE included Godrej Consumer Products.

Sentiment meter favours bears

Out of the 3,476 stocks that traded on the NSE on August 13, Thursday, 1,688 stocks witnessed advances, 1,698 saw declines while 112 stocks remained unchanged.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)