Stock Market closing: Sensex, Nifty close flat, Adani Ports, BPCL, Titan end the day in red

Both indices Nifty and Sensex closed the day in the red, with Nifty closing 0.01% down at 24,320.55 points, while Sensex dipped 0.05% to close at 79,960.38 points. Amidst broad market indices, India VIX jumped over 7% during the day, while Nifty midcap select shed 1.17% to close the day in red.

As for sectoral indices, except for FMCG (up by 1.63%), IT (up by 0.06%), oil and gas (up by 0.88%), and mid small healthcare (up by 0.06%), all other indices closed the day in red. FMCG (down by 1.28%) and PSU banks (down by 1.60%) were amongst the leading sectoral laggards.

Stocks in Action

ONGC (up by 4.15%), ITC (up by 2.34%)m HDFC Life (up by 2.25%), Hindustan Unilever (up by 1.33%) and Wipro (up by 1.33%) were amidst the top gaining stocks. On the other hand, Titan (down by 3.33%), Divis Labs (down by 3.23%), BPCL (down by 2.49%), Shri Ram Finance (down by 1.95%) and Adani Ports (down by 1.56%) lost most ground during the day.

Out of the 2,811 stocks traded during the day, 1,116 saw advances, while 1,611 saw declines and 84 remained unchanged. 250 stocks hit their 52-week high price and 16 stocks touched their 52-week low price. 142 stocks hit the upper circuit during today's trading session, while 111 stocks reached the lower circuit.

As per Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, "today, the benchmark indices witnessed lackluster activity, the Nifty ended 3 points lower while the Sensex was down by 36 points. Among Sectors, FMCG index outperformed, rallied over 1.5% whereas PSU Bank index lost the most, shedding 1.5%. Technically, after a muted opening entire day the market hovered between 24,240/79,730 to 24,340/80,000 levels. Intraday non-directional activity indicated indecisiveness between the bulls and the bears. We are of the view that, the intraday market texture is non-directional, perhaps traders are waiting for either side breakout".

"For the bulls now, 24,360/80,100 would be the key resistance level. Post 24,360/80,100 the index could move up 24,450-24,500/80,400-80,600. On the flip side, dismissal of 24,240/79,730 may accelerate selling pressure. Below which, the market could retest the level of 24,160-24,120/79,500-79,200", he continued.

Mr. Aditya Gaggar Director of Progressive Shares highlighted that the markets commenced the week on a muted note and due to a lack of momentum, the index remained rangebound throughout the day to settle the trade at 24,320.55 with a minuscule loss of 3.30 points. Among the sectors, FMCG and Energy were the top performers while PSU Banks and metal were the major laggards. The railway segment was the star performer of the day as almost all the counters surged over 5-6%", he said.