Sensex ends lower for 3rd consecutive session, Nifty shuts shop below 17300, volatile trend to continue

The volatile streak in the markets continued for third straight day on Friday as investors continued to be on edge due to ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The S&P BSE Sensex ended an extremely choppy session 54 points or 0.1% lower at 57,833 levels, while the Nifty50 settled at 17,276, down 28 points or 0.16%. Reliance Industries, Infosys, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, and M&M were the major drags on the Sensex, accounting for most of the losses. The downside was capped by gains in HDFC, L&T, TCS, and Axis Bank. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices shed 0.8 per cent On the sectoral front, key indices ended in the negative zone led by the Nifty Realty index (down 1.2%) and the Nifty Pharma index (down 0.8%). On the upside, the Nifty Bank and Financial Serbices indices managed to close 0.2% higher each.

Neeraj Chadawar, Head – Quantitative Equity Research, Axis Securities

“Another volatile session for the equity market led by the weaker global cues, as the current macroeconomic development on geopolitical tension and the hawkish tone by the US FED, are weighing on investors’ sentiments. We believe volatility is likely to stay for some more time before we conclude in a concrete direction. This increase in volatility should be bought at regular investment in the quality of large-cap and midcap stocks, as the earning expectations for Indian corporates remain strong. The earnings momentum would be the critical factor for the market performance, though it has been strong in the past few quarters and in line with expectations for the current quarter. On a positive note, the expectation of FY23 Nifty EPS is broadly stable and improved by 1% after the quarterly results.”

Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, HEM Securities

“Benchmark indices ended the day’s session on a negative note, with Sensex and Nifty 50 ended a volatile session with losses, dragged by realty and Consumer durable stocks, amid heightening volatility due to geopolitical tensions concerning Ukraine, possible impact due to Fed rate-hike. Nifty 50 closes its day above below good resistance zone of 17,300 and if index holds below 17300 mark then we may see more downfall towards 17000-16,800 mark which are another support zone on the downside. The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bears. Volatility gauge Index surge by 0.68% to 22.16. Crucial support for Nifty 50 is 17,000 while Nifty may face some resistance at 17,400.”

Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

“The market is stuck in a range which is between 17200 and 17500. Until we do not get past either level, we will not witness a meaningful move. A break of either side will result in a 300-400 point move.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

“Domestic equities struggled for a firm direction in today’s volatile trade as the market opened low taking cues from yesterday’s sell-off in Wall Street following the release of FOMC meeting minutes. Reports that the US Secretary of State agreed to meet the Russian foreign minister in order to ease tension helped the domestic market to wipe-off early losses though sell-off was seen in late hours. As current global cues are forcing global equities to remain unstable, the domestic market is also expected to continue its volatile trend in the coming days.”

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

“On the daily chart of Nifty, an inverted hammer pattern has formed which often indicates a bullish reversal. On the lower end, 17200 may act as support for the falling market. The trend is likely to remain bullish in the days to come as long as 17200 is held. On the higher end, crucial resistance is placed at 17500”