Stock Market Today: Maruti, Grasim, and Eicher Motors take lead in early trade

Both indices, Nifty and Sensex opened the day in red. As of 9:30 am, Nifty was down by 0.05% trading at 24,420.30 points, while Sensex was down by 0.15% and was trading at 80,254.37 points as of 9:30 am.

All broad market indices opened the day in the green, except for Nifty 50, 100, 200, 500, and midcap and smallcap 50 opened in red. India VIX was up by 1.17%. Amidst sectoral indices, Bank, auto, metal, financial services, PSU, and private banks opened the day in the red.

Continuing its momentum from yesterday, Maruti opened the day in green and was up by 1.66%. Grasim, Divis Labs, Eicher Motors, and Britannia were the top gainers in early trade this morning. On the other hand, Mahindra and Mahindra, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, Dr. Reddy, and Kotak Bank were among the leading laggards.

As Mr. Aditya Gaggar, Director of Progressive Shares, notes, "A strong rally in the auto counters helped the index end on trade at another record level of 24,433 yesterday. The index has breached its previous high convincingly by forming a big green candle and opening the door for further rallying towards the 24,520–24,600 zone. At the same time, 24,340 will be considered strong immediate support. BankNifty oscillates in a well-maintained range of 52,260–52,720; a breakout on either side is a must (mostly on the higher side, considering the strong uptrend). The auto segment ended its consolidation of over 2 weeks with a strong breakout indicating the resumption of its uptrend".

"Post the strong breakout, follow-up buying was witnessed in the FMCG segment which boosted our confidence to remain bullish on the sector (ITC is on the verge of a major breakout). Sugar counters regained their momentum and some of them have already given a strong breakout (Andhra Sugar and Dalmia Sugar) and some are at the cusp of a major breakout (Balrampur Chini and Renuka Sugar). We continue to remain positive in the pharma space", he continued.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research, Kotak Securities noted that among sectors, the auto index gained over 2% while intraday profit booking was witnessed in select IT, oil, and gas stocks.

"Currently, 24,300/80,000 would act as a key support zone for trend-following traders. We believe, that as long as the market is trading above it, the bullish sentiment will likely continue. On the higher side, 24,500 -24,600/80,500-80,800 would be the immediate resistance zones for day traders", he said.