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

The Indian stock market closed in the green on Friday, with Sensex and Nifty rising up to 0.4% a day after the sharp crash that wiped out a significant portion of investors' wealth.

Sensex rose 315 points to end Friday’s session at 73,896 while Nifty 50 gained 77 points to close at 23,140.50. Broader markets remained mixed, with Nifty Midcap 100 in the red and Nifty Smallcap 100 in the green.

Also read | PB Fintech's 36% bloodbath rattles market, but Jefferies stays bullish. What does it see in Policybazaar parent?



Here's how analysts read the market pulse

Volatile crude and bond yields at elevated levels kept the market recovery capped, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. He noted that concerns over inflation, foreign fund outflows and pressure on EM currencies remained intact. Selective bargain hunting after the recent pullback helped the market retain a positive bias, though gains remained confined to a narrow trading range.

The ability of benchmark indices to sustain above the psychologically important 23,000 level reflects domestic resilience and support from strong domestic liquidity, Nair said. “While elevated oil prices and global yields may continue to temper risk appetite in the near term, improving valuations and resilient domestic growth prospects are encouraging selective accumulation, helping the market absorb external pressures more effectively,” he added.

US stocks

US stocks ended higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.51%, Nasdaq 0.48% and Dow Jones 0.93%, as Microsoft and other AI-related stocks gained. Microsoft rose 3.7% after unveiling new Copilot capabilities, while Qualcomm and Dell advanced 4% and 5%, respectively. Akamai Technologies gained 3.2% after an $11.6 billion deal with Anthropic. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% for the week, while the Nasdaq gained 2%. Sentiment remained cautious as Brent crude stayed above $100 a barrel and the 10-year US Treasury yield hit a 19-year high of 5.196%. The S&P 500 traded at just under 19 times expected earnings, its lowest valuation since 2023.

European markets

European shares ended higher on Friday, with the STOXX 600 gaining 0.4% and rising 0.5% for the week, snapping a three-week losing streak as oil prices retreated and hopes of a Middle East truce supported sentiment. Energy stocks fell 1.3%, while banks gained 1.3% and airlines advanced as lower oil prices eased cost concerns. UBS rose 3.5%, while Konecranes jumped 7.4% after launching a buyback and raising financial targets. However, investors remained cautious as bond yields continued to rise and German consumer confidence weakened sharply amid higher energy costs.

Also read | Big AI reset ahead? Chris Wood doubts hyperscalers’ $990 bn capex estimates, highlights India’s reverse AI trade advantage


Most active stocks in terms of turnover

Policybazaar (Rs 4,895 crore), Whirlpool India (Rs 2,583 crore), RIL (Rs 1,604 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,457 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,438 crore), BSE (Rs 1,432 crore), and Infosys (Rs 1,022 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 of the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 30.93 crore), Ola Electric (Traded shares: 19.46 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 5.71 crore), Policybazaar (Traded shares: 4.16 crore), IFCI (Traded shares: 3.61 crore), Meesho (Traded shares: 3.15 crore) and J&P Power (Traded shares: 3.06 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Whirlpool India, Engineers India, Welspun Corp, Balrampur Chini, Kaynes Tech, HBL Power and HEG 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 Engineers India, Welspun Corp, Indegene, Cadila Healthcare, Allied Blenders and MCX India.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Ola Electric, Meesho, Fortis Healthcare, JK Cement, Paytm, Policybazaar and Max Healthcare.

52-week low

Among the ones which hit their 52-week lows on NSE included Policybazaar, India Cements, Tata Motors PV, Motherson Sumi Wiring, SJVN, Latent View and Ircon.

Also read | $500 billion flywheel! Macquarie lists 3 drivers for strong growth in capital market stocks, lists top picks


Sentiment meter favours bulls

Out of the 3,647 stocks that traded on the NSE on Friday, 1,925 stocks witnessed advances, 1,594 stocks saw declines while 128 stocks remained unchanged.

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here.