Domestic equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Friday amid rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran, rupee weakness and heavy profit-booking in financial stocks. Analysts said the Nifty slipping below key technical levels signals weakening momentum, although select indicators still point towards the possibility of a near-term recovery.

Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Monday

Synopsis

Domestic equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Friday amid rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran, rupee weakness and heavy profit-booking in financial stocks. Analysts said the Nifty slipping below key technical levels signals weakening momentum, although select indicators still point towards the possibility of a near-term recovery.

Domestic equity benchmarks witnessed a sharp selloff on Friday, weighed down by escalating geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran, weakness in the rupee and heavy profit-booking in financial counters. Auto and energy stocks also remained under pressure throughout the session. The 50-share Nifty declined 150.50 points, or 0.62%, to settle at 24,176.15, while the BSE Sensex dropped 516.33 points, or 0.66%, to end at 77,328.19.

Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX ended at 16.84, down by 1.32% from the last closing.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said the mood has further deteriorated as the index also moved below the 50 EMA on the intraday timeframe. In addition, the RSI has re-entered a bearish crossover on the daily chart, reflecting weakening momentum, he said.

"Overall, the sentiment appears weak, with heavy call writing visible around the 24,200 strike. If the Nifty sustains below 24,200 on Monday, the index could witness further correction towards the 24,050–24,000 zone. On the other hand, a move back above 24,200 may trigger a near-term recovery rally towards 24,350–24,400," De said.

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Tech View

Decoding the charts, Nilesh Jain, Vice President - Head of Technical and Derivative Research at Centrum Finverse, said the markets remained under pressure for the second consecutive session, with the Nifty forming a small-bodied bearish candle on the daily chart. However, the index managed to hold above its 21-DMA support placed near 24,140 levels on a closing basis, he said, adding momentum indicators and oscillators show signs of improvement, with the RSI hovering around 46 levels.

"The broader structure continues to remain sideways to positive, and a gradual recovery towards 24,300–24,500 levels is likely in the near term, while the crucial support of the 50-DMA is placed around 24,000 levels," Jain said.

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

360 One WAM (Rs 427 crore), Ujjivan State Bank of India (SBI, Rs 269 crore), Craftsman Automation (Rs 211 crore), Lenskart Solutions (Rs 168 crore), Action Construction Equipment (ACE, Rs 151 crore), Titan Company (Rs 109 crore) and HDFC Bank (Rs 102 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 4.02 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 2.03 crore), SpiceJet (Traded shares: 1.33 crore), Ola Electric (Traded shares: 71.29 lakh), Ujjivan SFB (Traded shares: 48.38 lakh), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 48.38 lakh) and GAIL (Traded shares: 42.51 lakh) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Sonata Software, Titan Company, Kalyan Jewellers India, Thermax, Quick Heal Technologies, Paramount Communications and Suryoday Small Finance Bank were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52-week high

Today, 219 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 23 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52-week highs were Acutaas Chemicals, Adani Ports, Angel One, Bajaj Auto, Bharat Forge, CG Power and Finolex Cables.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Among the largecap names were SBI, Britannia Industries and Coal India. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Urban Company, Rossell Techsys, Dalmia Bharat, CCL Products, Globus Spirits, Indoco Remedies and Shakti Pumps.

Sentiment meter favours bears

Sensex settled lower, dragged by SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank as the market breadth stood negative. Out of the 4,406 stocks that traded on the BSE on Friday, May 8, 2,020 stocks witnessed advances, 2,217 saw declines, while 169 stocks remained unchanged.

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

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