Nifty stuck in a range — here’s the ceiling
Palviya told ET Now that Nifty’s technical setup remains fragile. The index recently filled the bullish gap created on April 13, and has once again failed to sustain above its 50-day moving average. For traders watching levels, he flags 24,200 as the key supply zone this expiry. Major call writing activity is concentrated between 24,000 and 24,500, which means any pullback rally is likely to face stiff resistance in that band.
On the downside, put writers have shifted their positions to 23,500, making that the key support level to watch for this expiry cycle.
Bank Nifty, however, is a brighter spot. Despite the broader volatility, it has held the 56,000 level with relative composure. Palviya says a sustained defence of 56,800 could trigger fresh buying, and a move above 56,300–56,400 may spark short-covering action.
Stay away from IT as more pain is likely
The sharpest message from Palviya was on the IT sector: stay out.
Nifty IT has broken below the critical 30,000 support level, a zone that had held through multiple earlier corrections. With that floor gone, Palviya sees the index sliding further toward 27,800 as the next meaningful support.
“None of the largecap IT stocks is holding the ground,” he said, noting that most have broken key support levels and are now forming lower top, lower bottom patterns, a classic sign of a sustained downtrend.The weakness has spread to midcap IT too. Stocks like Persistent Systems and Coforge, which had seen buying interest in recent weeks, have also started cracking. The verdict: avoid IT until the structure improves.
Where to put money right now
While Nifty stumbles, Palviya says three sectors are showing genuine strength: power, FMCG, and pharma. Sustained buying has emerged in these spaces over the past few trading sessions, and he is focusing on stock-specific opportunities within them.
For investors looking for concrete ideas, he offered two picks:
AU Small Finance Bank is his top banking call. The stock is in its third consecutive week of making higher highs and higher lows, with long buildup visible in the weekly options data. It has given a clean breakout above its previous swing high. Strategy: buy and accumulate with a target of ₹1,100 and a stop loss at ₹1,045.
SAIL is his metal sector pick. On the monthly chart, the stock is breaking out of a rounding bottom formation — a significant long-term technical signal. On the weekly chart, it continues to trade in an upward-sloping channel. Strategy: buy and accumulate with a target of ₹188–192 and a stop loss at ₹173.
The bottom line
In a market driven by daily news shocks, Palviya’s advice is simple: ignore the noise at the index level, sidestep IT entirely, and focus on stocks in sectors that are actually trending upward. Right now, that means power, pharma, FMCG, and two specific names worth adding to the watchlist.