Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX ended at 18.72, down 5.4% from the last closing.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said the sentiment is likely to remain positive with a possibility to rise towards 24,250. The daily RSI has reversed from the deep oversold zone and currently it is in a bullish crossover, suggesting a positive momentum, he added.
“On Monday it closed with a piercing line pattern (bullish reversal pattern) on the daily timeframe, on Tuesday it closed breaking out of the falling channel on the hourly chart, and on Wednesday it has closed above the 23.60% Fibonacci retracement,” De said, suggesting positive chart structure. He sees a short term support at 23,500.
US markets
Wall Street’s main indexes slipped on Wednesday after data showed producer prices rose more than expected in February, prompting investors to price out any hopes for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this year.
A Labor Department report showed the Producer Price Index rose 3.4% on an annual basis in February, compared with a 2.9% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters. Prices could accelerate further as the Middle East conflict boosts shipping and oil prices.
European Markets
Major European indices were trading mixed on Wednesday. UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s Dax and Stoxx 600 were trading down 0.4%, 0.3% and 0.3%, respectively around 12:46 p.m. GMT (6:45 pm). Meanwhile, Spain’s IBEX 35 and French CAC 40, each trading up by 0.1% around 1:00
Tech View
Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President – Research at Religare Broking said Nifty is gradually inching higher, having tested the immediate resistance zone of 23,800–24,000. Sustaining above this band will be crucial for further recovery towards 24,400 levels, he added.
The Religare analyst has placed immediate support to the 23,300–23,600 zone, advising the market participants to avoid aggressive positioning and instead focus on stock-specific opportunities, maintaining disciplined risk management amid the still-evolving global backdrop.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
Larsen & Toubro (L&T, Rs 398), ICICI Bank (Rs 204 crore), JBM Auto (Rs 201 crore), Lodha Developers (Rs 164 crore), Maruti Suzuki (Rs 160 crore), Piramal Finance (Rs 131 crore) and Waaree Energies (Rs 129 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: 2.49 crore), SpiceJet (Traded shares: 1.89 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 1.48 crore), Ola Electric (Traded shares: 87.02 lakh) Urban Company (Traded shares: 66.57 lakh), Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Traded shares: 55.61 lakh) and Tata Steel (Traded shares: 51.62 lakh), and were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Valiant Organics, MMTC, JBM Auto, Waaree Energies, Jio Financial Services, Coforge and Hexaware Technologies were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
52 Week high
Today, 56 stocks hit their 52 week highs while 220 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Aeroflex Industries, Asia Capital, Bhaskar Agrochemicals, Gaudium IVF and Women Health, Shree Salasar Investments, Shivam Chemicals and Source Industries.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Among the large cap names were Cipla, Hindustan Lever (HUL) and Coal India. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were SpiceJet, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Vedanta, DEE Development Engineers, Bajel Projects, Niraj Ispat Industries and Swan Defence and Heavy Industries.
Sentiment meter favours bulls
Heavyweights like Infosys, Reliance Industries (RIL) and Bharti Airtel lifted the markets, as the breadth stayed positive in the overall markets. Out of the 4,432 stocks that traded on the BSE on March 18, Wednesday, 3,169 stocks witnessed advances, 1,130 saw declines while 133 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)