Sensex, Nifty surge from lows to end near day’s high; charts suggest broader trading range ahead

S&P BSE Sensex gained 91 points on Thursday while the 50-stock NSE Nifty closed just shy of 14,600. In yet another volatile trading session, Sensex jumped 402 points from intra-day lows. Among top gainers on Sensex were IndusInd Bank, TCS, and Larsen & Toubro. Broader markets mirrored the up-move and closed the day in the green. Among sectoral indices, only Nifty Realty, Media, Metal, and IT ended the day’s trade in red while others gained. Tata Motors, TCS, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, L&T, Gail among others were seen hitting fresh 52-week highs.

Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities –

“It was a range-bound session for the market. Weekly expiration of options contracts and mixed activity n the global markets has kept the traders in the indecisive mode throughout the day. As the candlestick formations indecisive pattern for the market that would keep the market in a broader trading range between 14400/49100 and 14700/49900 levels. We need to be stock specific to drive the current momentum in the market as long as the market does not cross the upside barrier. Above 14,700/49900, the Nifty/Sensex would reach the 15000/50500 levels. The Bank-Nifty also survived well above the psychological barrier point of 32500, which is positive for it and could reach 33200 in the near term.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial services –

“Despite better than expected results of Infosys and Wipro, IT sector witnessed selling in its opening trade. However, the sector bounced back soon which led to a recovery in the market post it’s weak opening. The wholesale price inflation for the month of December declined to 1.22% due to a decrease in WPI food index from 4.27% in November to 0.92%. Positive economic data along with improving quarterly outlook is helping the Indian market to attract more foreign funds which will keep the market liquidity high even in these high valuations.”

Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking –

Markets remained range-bound for yet another session and ended marginally higher. Initially, the profit-taking in the IT majors pushed the benchmark lower but buying in the select index majors especially from energy, capital goods and FMCG space gradually pared all the losses. We may see further consolidation in the index ahead and it would be healthy for markets. The recent rise in volatility on the stock-specific front is on expected lines and we expect this trend to continue during the earnings season. Participants should maintain extra caution in the selection of stocks now and focus more on risk management.”

Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities–

“Index again closed a day on a positive note at 14596 with minimum gains of 30 points and formed a small bullish candle on the daily chart. The index has formed a good base near 14500 zones holding above said levels we may see the index to march northwards and any dip around 14500 zones will be again a buying opportunity, immediate resistance is formed at 14650 zones above that we may see bullish momentum to continue again.”

Manish Shah founder Niftytriggers –

“Nifty closed the day at the top end of the range with the close at the high of the day. This is again a bottoming tail pattern where Nifty gave a sharp bounce after low of the day. By end of the day the pattern is not bearish but a rally from the lows of the day suggests that buyers are not giving up as yet. Last three days low in Nifty is at 14425 and this the level that should not be breached. On the upper side, the barrier in Nifty is at 14650 a break above this will propel the market towards 14800-14850.”