Dalal Street Corner: Sensex, Nifty close marginally lower as volatility persists in market; what should investors do on Tuesday?

The Indian markets for the second straight session on Monday closed negative as Sensex declined nearly 100 points, while Nifty50 settled above the 16550-level. Similarly, even the broader markets followed the benchmarks suite as mid-cap fell by 0.1 per cent and small-cap by over 1 per cent. 

Metal index outperformed on reports of a decline in raw material prices, jumping by over 1 per cent, along with the banking and auto sectors in an otherwise negative market. Media stocks end lower after TRAI postpones new tariff order implementation as well as Realty and IT. 

As many as 21 stocks advanced and 29 declined in 50-pack of Nifty. Bajaj Auto snapped 3-day losing streak to surge most by over 4 per cent followed by JSW Steel up over 2.5 per cent, while Tata Consumer Products, ONGC and Apollo Hospital each gained over 1.5 per cent at the market close. 

Conversely, Shree Cement slumped most by over 3 per cent, followed by BPCL and Asian Paints each down over 2.5 per cent, while UltraTech Cement and Hero Moto each down over 1.5 per cent.  

Similarly, insurance behemoth LIC shares slipped below Rs 800 per share for the first time since listing last month, taking market capitalization below Rs 5 trillion mark. Similarly, newly listed Campus Activewear and Rainbow Children’s Medicare shares dipped as 30-day anchor lock-in period ends. 

We have collated views from different experts as to what investors should do when trading resumes: 

Expert: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. 

The domestic market moved in tandem with the global peers to open weak and gradually recovered its losses following a positive start in Europe. Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia raised their selling price adding to the current global inflationary pressure.  

Better than expected US job data triggered worries on Wall Street as it gives the Fed more room to hike rates. This volatility is likely to continue in both global and domestic markets as investors await monetary policy decisions from major central banks including RBI. 

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas 

The bulls managed to defend the swing low of 16438, thus maintaining the higher top higher bottom formation on the daily chart. The hourly chart shows that the recent dips are getting absorbed near the hourly lower Bollinger Band. 16400 acting as critical support for the short term. 

 The short-term stance continues to be positive as long as the Nifty stays above 16400 on a closing basis. Thus, the index is expected to test 16800 on the upside with a potential to stretch till 17000 subsequently. 

Expert: Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.  

The Nifty trend is likely to remain positive for the near term as long as 16400 is held on a sustained basis. On the higher end, resistance is seen at 16800. The Bank Nifty has remained below the 50 EMA throughout the session. Going forward, Bank Nifty may remain sideward to positive as long as it holds the crucial support of 35000. On the higher end, resistance is visible at 36000. 

Expert: Narendra Solanki - Head- Equity Research, Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers.  

Indian markets opened in negative following mixed Asian market cues, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small-cap index were also trading weak. During the afternoon session markets trimmed their losses and traded from neutral to marginally in the green. The markets continued to trade indecisively ahead of RBI's monetary policy meeting this week. 

Expert: Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd 

Markets traded lackluster and closed almost unchanged amid mixed cues. The start was muted on weak global cues however recovery in metals and selective buying in financials pared all the losses.  

The prevailing uncertainty on the global front coupled with caution ahead of the MPC meet outcome is keeping the participants on the edge. Indications are in the favour of consolidation further in the index so the focus should be on identifying the sectors/stocks and maintaining positions on both sides.