Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX ended at 11.67, down 4.30% from the last closing.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President – Research at Religare Broking said that markets traded range-bound on the weekly expiry day but managed to end marginally higher, extending the rally seen over the past few sessions. In his view, sentiment remained supported by positive trends in global markets, particularly in the US, along with signs of foreign institutional inflows.
Reiterating his bullish stance on the Nifty, he recommended a buy-on-dips approach with a focus on careful stock selection.
US markets
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged lower on Tuesday, bogged down by declines in the communication services and technology sectors, while investors digested retail sales figures that kick off a series of economic datasets through the week.
The S&P 500 communication services sector weighed the most and was down 1.3%, dragged by a 2.8% decline in Alphabet’s shares after it sold bonds worth $20 billion in a seven-part offering. Tech stocks slipped 0.1%.
Consumer discretionary stocks on the benchmark index gained 0.3%, lifted by Tesla and Marriott , capping declines. The latter jumped 8.7% after fourth-quarter results.Meanwhile, retail sales were unexpectedly unchanged in December, putting consumer spending and the overall economy on a slower growth path heading into the new year. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.4% increase.
European Markets
Most major European indices were trading mixed around 2:35 p.m. GMT (8:20 pm India) time with UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and Spain’s IBEX down up to 0.29%. Meanwhile, Stoxx 600 and French CAC 40 were up by up to 0.21% around this time.
Tech View
Commenting on the day’s action, Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said Nifty traded sideways as the NSE weekly expiry session remained lackluster. “However, the momentum indicator is in a bullish crossover and trending higher, indicating improving momentum. Additionally, the index is sustaining above its critical moving averages on the daily timeframe. In the short term, the trend is expected to remain sideways to positive, with support placed at 25,790. On the higher end, resistance is seen at 26,000–26,300,” De said.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
Tata Steel (Rs 527 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 507 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 243 crore), Praj Industries (Rs 169 crore), Kalyan Jewellers (Rs 165 crore), Eternal (Rs 147 crore) and HDFC Bank (Rs 145 crore), were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 3.70 crore), Tata Steel (Traded shares: 2.53 lakh), SpiceJet (Traded shares: 1.42 crore), IFCI (Traded shares: 77.62 lakh), YES Bank (Traded shares: 62.37 lakh), and Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 61.59 lakh) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Tracxn Technologies, Edelweiss Financial, JM Financial, Swiggy, BSE, Praj Industries and BEML were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
52 Week high
Today, 148 stocks hit their 126 week highs while 57 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Amagi Media Labs, APL Apollo, Ashok Leyland, Avanti Feeds, Corona Remedies, Force Motors and JK Tyres.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Among the large cap names were HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance and Bharti Airtel. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Aurobindo Pharma, Welspun Living, eClerx, Jyoti CNC, Navin Fluorine and Gokaldas Exports.
Sentiment meter favours bulls
Though action in heavyweights like Eternal, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and ICICI Bank pulled the markets the most. The breadth stayed positive in broader markets. Out of the 4,407 stocks that traded on the BSE on February 10, Tuesday, 2,587 stocks witnessed advances, 1,675 saw declines while 145 stocks remained unchanged.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)