Nifty Ends marginally lower; Nifty IT Index Surges over 3%

Mr. Nandish Shah - Deputy Vice President, HDFC Securities

Nifty ended marginally lower on the weekly expiry day, continuing its choppy and range-bound trend. The index opened with a modest gain of around 25 points and held firm through the first half of the session. However, momentum faded in the latter half, with Nifty slipping nearly 200 points from the day's high before settling at 23,618, down 32 points. NSE cash market turnover rose 6% compared to the previous session.

Among index heavyweights, IT stocks led the gains, with Infosys, HCL Tech, and Tech Mahindra outperforming. On the downside, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, and UltraTech Cement emerged as key laggards.

Sectoral performance remained mixed, with IT, Realty, and Media indices closing in the green, while Nifty Private Bank, Financial Services, and Metal indices ended in the red.

Broader market indices outperformed the benchmark, with the Nifty Midcap 100 gaining 0.91% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 1.20%. Market breadth improved after two sessions of weakness, as reflected in the BSE advance-decline ratio climbing to 1.62, indicating renewed buying interest following the recent correction in mid- and small-cap stocks.

Indian rupee weakened to a fresh record low of 96.61 before recovering slightly to close at 96.54. The currency remained under pressure due to weakness in regional peers, persistent dollar demand from importers, and concerns over rising inflation driven by elevated import costs.

Technically, Nifty continues to consolidate within a narrow range over the past five sessions, highlighting the absence of a clear directional bias and lack of follow-through moves.

On the levels front, the index faces immediate resistance near 23,800, while the support zone is placed in the 23,262-23,317 range in the near term.

Source : Equity Bulls

Keywords

Nifty HDFCSecurities NiftyITIndex