Daily Big Picture – Market Witnesses a Lackluster Session

DailyBigPicture-MarketSmithIndia-WilliamOneilIndiaToday’s Action:

Benchmark indices end flat with minuscule losses. Broader markets take home minor gains.

Daily Market Review

The market had a lackluster session, in the absence of any major cues. Mixed global markets gave little cues to the domestic market, as the Indian benchmark indices ended the day with minuscule losses.

Today, the Nifty opened higher at 10,175.60. After hitting the day’s peak at 10,178.95, the index sold off, reaching a low of 10,129.95. It closed for the day at 10,147.55, down 0.05% from yesterday’s close. Similarly, the BSE Sensex opened higher at 32,522.44 points. After trading in the range of 32,358.63-32,524.11, the index finally settled at 32,402.37, slipping 0.07% from Monday’s close.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, showed the gainers taking a slight lead over the losers in today’s session. On the NSE, 736 stocks advanced, compared with 723 stocks declining, and 47 stocks remaining unchanged.

The broader indices managed to hold ground, as the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices posted gains of 0.05% and 0.22%, respectively.

The MarketSmith India IND 47 Index, which lists the top 47 stocks in chart on fundamental characteristics, gained 0.61% today, outperforming the benchmark indices.

The sectoral chart displayed a mixed picture today. The Nifty Realty, Auto, Energy, and FMCG Indices were the top performers of the day, rallying 0.88%, 0.59%, 0.27% and 0.27%, respectively. Among the losers, the Nifty PSU Bank, Metal, and Pharma indices dragged the market the most, slipping 0.79%, 0.72%, and 0.49%, respectively.

According to reports, the meeting between the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, and other top government officials today to take stock of the economy has been deferred. The meeting was called to discuss remedial measures to bolster the economy, after the GDP growth slumped to 5.7% in the quarter ending June 2017, making it the sixth consecutive quarter of declining GDP growth rate. The second volume of the government’s Economic Survey has warned that the economy may not be able to achieve the earlier targeted growth rate of 7.5% owing to deflationary pressures.

The global financial major Goldman Sachs, in its report, cautioned that while the pharma sector could witness minor rebounds, the stocks are not pricing in a bear or stress case. Reacting to the report, frontline stocks in the sector fell 0.5-2.0% intraday.

In stock news, shares of Biocon rose 3.6% intraday as the Company did not get any observation from the USFDA for its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility at Visakhapatnam.

Cadila Healthcare stated that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Pharm-Aid, a Russian company, to acquire technology know-how for the production of chickenpox vaccine The agreement gives Cadila access to the markets of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.

Today, both the Nifty and the Sensex observed a higher trading volume compared to yesterday’s session. Both the headline indices dropped a distribution day today due to ageing. The revised distribution day count stands at 3 for both the Nifty and the Sensex.

Current Outlook:

– Market environment conducive for new purchases, but remain selective.

– Focus on fundamentally strong stocks breaking out of strong technical patterns.

– Stay disciplined and exercise sound buy and sell rules.

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