CAS chaos continues: Sensex rises 114 points, but Nifty closes below 24,400. What lies ahead?

Indian stock market saw another session of benchmark indices seeing sharp divergence following the closing auction session (CAS), with Sensex ending higher and Nifty finishing 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%.

IndiGo shares jumped nearly 3% to lead gains on Sensex, while NTPC, Bharat Electronics (BEL), L&T, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Eternal and Tech Mahindra shares gained around 2%. ICICI Bank and Titan shares meanwhile dropped over 1% to lead losses on the benchmark index.


Among the sectors, Nifty Metal dropped more than 1% to lead losses, while Nifty FMCG and Nifty Realty gained nearly 1% each. The overall market breath turned slightly negative, with NSE seeing 1,698 declines against 1,688 advances, while 112 stocks remained unchanged.


What lies ahead for Dalal Street?



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.


Technical view on Nifty

Nifty’s swing higher from the 20 DMA yesterday and the hammer formed thereof appears to have set up conditions to force a trend reversal, aiming 24,540-24,666 initially, followed by 24,850- 25,100, said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Investments.

He however expects a consolidation on approach to 24,490. If this holds, upside prospects will reduce, but a collapse aiming at 24,240-24,060, is less expected, the analyst further said.


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