Dalal Street Corner: Market closes flat with positive bias today - what should investors do on Tuesday?

As the market breadth favours decline, the Indian markets on Monday ended flat with positive bias. Both the benchmark indices - Sensex and Nifty50 - closed as same as that of Friday’s session with little gains. The pharma, FMCG, and IT stocks held the market in the green, while metals dragged the most. 

While the broader markets closed mixed with mid-cap gaining marginally by 102 points and small-cap witnessing minor cuts, down 0.25 per cent at the market close. Similarly, the Nifty Bank, a key driver of the Nifty50, also slipped marginally by 31 points, led by SBI and ICICI Bank. 

With at least 22 stocks ending positive today, Power Grid gained most by over 3 per cent, followed by ONGC, ITC and Cipla each up over 2 per cent. On the other hand, 28 stocks closed in the red, with Coal India leading the fall by over 4 per cent, followed by Tata Steel and Hindalco. 

The shares of newly-listed Nykaa slipped over 3 per cent at close on the back of mute second-quarter results, while IRCTC shares gained over 4.5 per cent. Moreover, the market also witnessed a listing of three new companies — PolicyBazaar, Sigachi Industries, and SJS Enterprises - earlier on Monday. 

The first two companies made a listing at a premium of 17 and 250 per cent on the exchanges, while SJS Enterprises saw a flat market debut during early morning trade. The first close on a positive note, while the third one slipped by over 4 per cent at the market close. 

Similarly, a new initial public offer of Tarsons Products Limited has been opened today and is fully subscribed on the first day itself. At around 4:41 pm, the IPO was subscribed 1.07 times. The three-day IPO will be active till 17 November 2021. 

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd said, “Markets traded volatile and ended almost unchanged amid mixed cues. Upbeat global cues triggered a firm start but profit-taking across sectors trimmed the gains as the day progressed.” 

“It is broadly in a consolidation phase so the prevailing volatility is normal. In absence of any major domestic event, global cues will dictate the trend in the coming sessions. Participants should focus more on overnight risk management and maintain extra caution in the stocks selection,” he added. 

“The market saw some lackluster movement and an attempt to hold the level around 18100, sustaining above 18000 will be an important level for the market to stay positive in the short term” Vijay Dhanotiya, Senior Research Analyst at CapitalVia Global Research Limited mentioned.  

According to Dhanotiya, “If the market is able to sustain the level of 18000, it can witness a positive momentum in the market which can lead to higher levels near 18250-18300. The momentum indicators like RSI and MACD indicate positive momentum in the market.” 

Pointing out the market triggers, Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said, “The wholesale inflation numbers were out for the month of October and reported a 12.54 per cent rise on YoY basis. The European markets also stayed at a very flattish note in the opening session.” 

He added, “The crude oil also saw a minor correction as US President Joe Biden faced calls for tapping the strategic petroleum reserves to tackle the surging gas station prices in the US. Since markets are consolidating around the 18,100 zones for quite some time, suggesting good entry points in quality stocks for a long-term basis.”