FIRST TRADE: Equities open tad higher; Nifty tops 24,300, Sensex up 41 pts

After a postive close in the previous day's trade, Indian equities on the expiry day opened higher marginally. At the start, Nifty topped 24,300 levels, gaining 0.11 per cent or 27.8 points, while the Sensex was up 0.05 per cent or 41.24 points at 80,275.32.

Sectorally, barring IT and auto, all indices traded in the green, with the most gains seen in the Realty and FMCG space of up to 1 per cent.

Bank Nifty- the high beta index also showed resilience amid gains in counters including HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank among others.

However, the US PCE inflation index ticked higher, raising concerns. With the November F&O expiry today, volatility may spike, but short covering by FIIs could push Nifty above 24,500, added 

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services is of the belief that the consolidation phase in the market is likely to continue in the near-term. A clear positive for the market is the cessation of relentless selling by the FIIs. This will give confidence to the retail investors to again start buying aggressively. But there is no room for such high optimism. Strong dollar is a negative for emerging markets and, therefore, FIIs are unlikely to turn aggressive buyers. Also large institutions would prefer to wait and watch for clarity on Trump’s policies and its likely impact on trade and the global economy.  

Technicals

Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities said, "The Nifty has traced a bullish harami pattern within a three-day range spanning the 24,125 - 24,350 area. This is a very rare occurrence as each of the three candles has a similar high-to-low range, with the pattern becoming especially important post the Monday gap-up.

The immediate hurdle to monitor is 24,360, above which the next resistance sits around 24,540. Critical support lies at 24,120, with bears gaining the upper hand only on a daily close below 23,956. Unless we have a negative surprise toward month-end, the November candle is most likely to end with a long lower shadow that shows the significance of 23,200 as we head into the final month of the year, he added.