FIRST TRADE: Equities trade lower; Nifty above 25,360 levels, Sensex down 82 points

Indian equities tracking positive Asian markets started Friday's trade marginally lower against expectations. Nifty started trade lower by 25.65 points at 25,363.25, while the Sensex was down 0.1 per cent or 82.1 points at 82,880.61.

Sectorally, realty, metal, PSU Banks led the gains, while financial services, FMCG, IT and auto stocks traded with mild weakness.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "Yesterday’s sharp up move which saw the Nifty spurt by 1.9% was a purely technical move triggered by short covering on the expiry day. It is important to understand that the 400 point rally in the Nifty happened after 2pm. Call writers trapped by the unexpected up move resorted to frenzied covering, pushing up prices sharply."

Bharti Hexaxom shares rallied to a new all-time high after Jefferies double upgraded the stock to buy.

Technical outlook

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "While we had high conviction towards dips getting arrested near 24900 on the day before, and the upswings thereof testing 25150 again yesterday, the turbo charged upmove yesterday towards close took us by surprise, especially as the recent few days’ pattern now looks very similar to that in late July, in the lead up to the August’s collapse from the peak."

That said, we still have enough days until 18 Sep, to meet 25800, our long standing upside objective. For the day, initial dips are expected to be contained near 24240 for a slow upswing thereof, but a direct fall below 24150 could let bears dominate, added James.

Asian markets 

Most Asian stock trended higher as the focus shifted to the probable rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.