Nifty snap 5-day losing streak; Metals dip

CLOSING BELL: Nestle, Titan, Hindustan Unilever and Asian Paints were the major gainers among the Sensex-30 pack; while Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank and Bharti Airtel were the top losers.

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Stock Market Highlights: The benchmark indices snapped their five-day losing streak amid high volatility on Thursday, as FMCG and select banking shares gained, while IT and metal stocks witnessed selling pressure.

The S&P BSE Sensex plunged to a low of 57,159 in the opening hour, but soon recouped losses and thereafter rallied to a high of 57,887. The Sensex finally settled with a gain of 79 points at 57,635.

The NSE Nifty 50 dipped to a low of 16,850, before signing-off the day 13 points higher at 16,986.

The broader indices, however, ended on a tepid note. The BSE Midcap index was down 0.1 per cent, while the Smallcap index slipped 0.7 per cent.

Sectorally, the BSE FMCG, Oil & Gas, Realty and Power indices jumped over a per cent each, while the Metal index shed 2.7 per cent.

In the broader markets, Zee Entertainment soared over 9 per cent following reports that the media major was planning to settle its dues to IndusInd Bank worth Rs 83.7 crore as early as Friday.

6:26 PM

Comment :: 'Investors should restrict positions to stocks showing relatively higher strength'

Global cues are still mixed; however, oversold positions and the existence of support around 16,800 in Nifty may trigger a rebound towards the 17,200 zone. Having said that, participants shouldn't go overboard, and restrict positions to stocks that are showing relatively higher strength. 

Views by: Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking

6:23 PM

Tech View :: 'Fag-end recovery suggests relief rally over the next few sessions'

The Nifty witnessed a sharp recovery, and closed in the positive after falling for five consecutive days. It closed with marginal gains of ~13 points, more importantly it has taken support at the lower end  of the downward sloping channel, and bounced back with a long lower shadow indicating buying interest at lower levels.

The positive divergence and positive crossover on the hourly charts suggest that bounce can continue over the next few trading sessions. Considering that the Nifty has corrected ~1,000 points in the last six trading sessions, it is appearing oversold and hence a relief rally appears highly probable over the next few trading sessions.

On the upside, the immediate hurdle stands at 17,170 – 17,200 zone where resistance in the form of the hourly upper Bollinger band and the 40-hour exponential moving average is placed.

Views by: Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

6:22 PM

Samvardhana Motherson crashes 11% post block deal

As per media reports, Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd (SWS) was to sell 230 million shares in the company i.e. around 3.4 per cent stake via block deal mechanism on stock exchanges today. The floor price for the deal was to be around Rs 69.90 per share (i.e. a discount of 9 per cent to last closing price) with total transaction value pegged at Rs 1,600 crore, the report suggested.