Nifty ends below 17,600; IT, realty, and NBFCs drag

It was a broad-based sell-off as Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap ended in the red.

Market update at 3.30 PM: Nifty remained weak in the second half of the session. In the end, it closed about 1.37 per cent lower at 17,560. Moreover, Sensex tanked about 770 points. It was a broad-based sell-off as Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap ended in the red. With this, India VIX surged over 2 per cent.  

Except for the auto sector that stayed positive until the end, all other sectoral indices felt the selling pressure. Nifty IT, Nifty Financial Services, and Nifty Realty closed lower by a per cent each.  

The top gainers’ list included Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto while HDFC & NTPC remained weak today.  

After such a dismal performance, the 17,500 happens to be a crucial support. It shall not be taken positively if Nifty trades below 17,500 in the coming week.  

Market update at 1 PM: Nifty is trading lower by 0.70 per cent while Sensex has tanked nearly 500 points. Nifty Midcap is down by half a per cent while Nifty Smallcap is trading flat.  

Among the sectoral indices, auto, media, and PSU bank stocks are trading higher while IT, pharma, FMCG & realty remained weaker today.   

The auto stocks continued to rally while HDFC & NTPC have lost over 3 per cent & 2 per cent, respectively.  

Nifty is currently trading near 17,650 and it remains to be seen whether it falls more or recovers from here.  

Market update at 10 AM: Indices have been trading lower amid volatility in the first hour of the trade. Nifty has slipped by 0.3 per cent while Sensex lost about 275 points. However, the broader indices have been trading mixed.   

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Auto has rallied over 1.6 per cent while Nifty IT is down by nearly a per cent. The top gainers’ list includes four auto stocks namely, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Auto. Meanwhile, the banking stocks and tyre stocks are trading lower.  

The highest addition of call open interest has been added at 17,800 while straddles have been made at 17,700 with a premium of about Rs 80. The market is expected to be range-bound for the day.  

Pre-market update: Asian markets have opened mixed with slightly negative bias. SGX Nifty indicates about 10-point lower opening for Nifty.
Last night, the US markets ended in green, with NASDAQ surging about half a per cent while Dow Jones gaining about 225 points. Meanwhile, the European markets ended mixed.
Natural Gas has surged over 16 per cent early Thursday morning, while the precious metals are trading slightly higher. Moreover, Rupee is currently trading weak against other currencies.
Last Trading session, the FIIs have sold for Rs 183 crores while the DIIs have bought about Rs 425 crores worth of equity.
On Wednesday, the Banking indices outperformed the other indices by a huge margin., and therefore Nifty PSU bank and Nifty Bank would be in focus for today.
CCI has imposed penalty on Apollo Tyres, MRF, JK Tyres and CEAT for cartelisation. Thus, these stocks would be watched with caution.
Today being the weekly expiry, 18000 call option has the highest open interest, while 17500 has the highest open interest on the put side. Thus, market participants expect Nifty to close on this range for this weekly expiry.