Nifty trades above 15,800 mark, all thanks to HDFC twins & ICICI Bank

Market Update at 1:05 PM: Nifty extended its early morning gains and trades near the day's high. Nifty is up by 0.70 per cent and is trading above the 15,800 mark. HDFC, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank have combinedly contributed nearly 65 points to Nifty’s kitty.   

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Bank, and Nifty Bank were the top three gainers while on the flip side, Nifty Media, Nifty IT, and Nifty FMCG emerged as the top losers.   

Jack & Jill, the protagonists of a famous nursery rhyme, seem to come alive during Monday’s trading session. The 50-share index, Nifty, went up the hill in the initial phase of the session and registered an intraday high of 15,789 but failed to capitalise on the initial gains and later plunged into negative terrain during the second half of the trading session. At one point in time, it declined 144 points from the day’s high. Though a mild recovery was seen in the last hour of the trade, which resulted in it ending the day almost unchanged. The broader markets outperformed the frontline indices as Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 gained 0.44 per cent and 0.60 per cent, respectively.   

Interestingly, Nifty has negated its lower highs formation of the last three sessions, but it formed a negative candle on the daily chart as its closing was lower than the opening. Nifty closed below the 20-DMA for the third successive day. For the third time, it also declined below the 15,670 levels in the last 15 days on an intraday basis.  

Going ahead, the level of 15,630 is a crucial level of support for Nifty, and as long as the bulls manage to protect this level on a closing basis, we suggest continuing with a selective trading approach while keeping a check on leveraged positions.  

On the upside, the level of 15,810, followed by 15,915 is likely to act as a resistance point in the near term. Overall, the index is seen trading in the range of 15,630-15,915 and breakout on either side of the range would result into a quick movement of 100-150 points.