Today’s Action:
Key indices close off day’s lows; mid- and small-caps underperform
Daily Market Review:
India’s key indices did well to keep losses in check in today’s expiry session.
After a weak opening, a late recovery at the bourses helped the Sensex and Nifty to limit losses at 0.07% and 0.14%, respectively.
On the global front, expectations of faster interest rate hikes in the U.S. dampened investor sentiment to a large extent. However, it failed to have much of an impact on the Indian market today.
The broader markets underperformed key indices once again, as the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices dipped around 0.5% each.
Talking about sector indices, IT stocks hogged the limelight in today’s session, mainly on account of a depreciating rupee and Nasscom’s brighter growth outlook for IT companies. The Indian rupee hit a three-month low today and is now back at 65/USD.
The IND 47 index, which is a list of top 47 stocks in chart and fundamental characteristics, drifted lower by 0.17% today.
The advance-decline ratio remained in favor of losers once again. Out of 1569 traded stocks, 470 stocks advanced while 1025 declined. A total of 74 stocks remained unaffected by today’s movement.
In other news, with effect from April 2, 2018, there will be a change in the Nifty components. Ambuja Cement, Aurobindo Pharma and Bosch will make way for new entrants, Bajaj Finserv, Grasim and Titan.
Coming to market direction, both the key indices drop a distribution day today due to age. The distribution day count now stands at four and five on the Nifty and Sensex, respectively. The Indian market status remains unchanged at Uptrend Under Pressure.
Despite weakness in the market throughout this week, both the major indices have managed to stay above their respective lows made on February 6, 2018. That gives us comfort as the indices have found some support near their previous lows. However, they are still trading below their 50-day lines. If the distribution count remains high and the key indices breach their previous lows, we might consider moving the Indian market to Downtrend.
Current Outlook:
– Be cautious with any new purchases
– Form a defensive game plan for your portfolio
– Stay disciplined and exercise sound sell rules
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