FINAL TRADE: Sensex down 65 pts, Nifty slips below 19,800; Infosys, HCL Tech drop ahead of Q2 results today

Stock market today: The domestic equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended in red on Thursday, October 12, snapping the two-day winning streak dragged by Information Technology (IT) stocks on weak earnings by Tata Consultancy Services. All eyes now will be on HCL Technologies and Infosys Q2 results. 

At close, S&P BSE Sensex was down 64.66 points or 0.10 per cent at 66,408.39 and NSE Nifty was down 17.35 points or 0.09 per cent at 19,794.

"Nifty concluded the day on a subdued tone with a tilt towards the downside while Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty Metal outperformed today with gains of 1.11 per cent and 0.75 per cent, respectively. Mining stocks soared today because the Nifty Metal index posted strong gains. MOIL jumped 7.9 per cent, while NMDC and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) rallied 5.79 per cent and 5.30 per cent," said Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst, BONANZA PORTFOLIO LTD.

Vidwani added Q2 profits were in line with market projections, but the repurchase price was significantly lower than the previous buyback price. For the first time in several years, US dollar revenue fell, although the Q2 EBIT margin was above forecasts.

"Today the market is down mainly due to TCS results being subdued. For the October series the market can make new high," said Vaibhav Kaushik Research Analyst GCL Broking.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, 21 stocks declined with Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Apollo Hospitals, HCL Technologies and TCS being the top laggards declining between 1.78 per cent and 2.82 per cent and 29 advanced with BPCL, Maruti Suzuki, Coal India, Power Grid and Grasim were the top winners, gaining between 1.08 per cent to 1.82 per cent.

Tech Mahindra, Infosys, and TCS were the top stocks that dragged the  30-scrip index.

In the broader market, Nifty Mid Cap 100 and Small Cap 100 ended positive.

Nifty Bank was up 0.18 per cent at 44,599.2. 

TECHNICAL VIEW

"On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty has been consolidating after a sharp rally of ~350 points in the previous couple of trading sessions. This consolidation is a healthy sign and shall set the floor for the next leg of upmove. The hourly momentum indicator has a negative crossover which can lead to more consolidation and incase of a dip towards 19750 – 19730 zone it should be used as a buying opportunity. On the downside the gap area formed in the range 19718 – 19757 is likely to act as a short-term support and on the upside the rally has potential to extend till 19884 – 20030," said Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

For Bank Nifty he said it is consolidating within a range and formed an Inside bar pattern. The hourly Bollinger bands are contracting and hourly momentum indicator has a negative crossover and is still far away from the equilibrium line indicating that consolidation is still not complete and can continue over the next few trading sessions Dips towards 44400 – 44300 zone should be used as the a buying opportunity.

Gedia added once this consolidation matures we expect the positive momentum to resume on the upside till 45050 – 45350 which coincides with the 50 per cent and 61.82 per cent fibonacci retracement level of the fall.

BUZZING STOCKS 

Here are some stock the buzzed the most: 

MMTC stock hit the upper circuit and ended 19.85 per cent higher.

Linde India shares ended over 13 per cent higher. 

MOIL shares settled over 8 per cent higher after 11 lakh shares bought by Quant Mutual Funds Gilt Funds in a bulk deal.

Plastiblends shares hit a 52-week high a day and ended 13.88 per cent higher after the company released its Q2 results. 

Sula Vineyards shares were up over 2 per cent a day after the company released its quarterly results.

Conversely, Nifty IT ended 1.67 per cent lower dragged by TCS, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Tech Mahindra. 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Global shares mostly rose Thursday as investors awaited the release of U.S. consumer price data and kept a cautious watch on the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. France's CAC 40 added 0.4 per cent in early trading to 7,161.62. 

Germany's DAX rose 0.5 per cent to 15,541.01, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.7 per cent to 7,672.18. The futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were up 0.2 per cent.

(With agency inputs)

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