Nifty, Sensex recover to trade flat after opening in the red

• Auto and pharma stocks are amongst top gainers on Nifty50 today.
• Bank Nifty was up by 7.4% and Nifty IT up by 11% in the last two weeks.
• Profit booking is expected in mid and small caps with high valuations, say experts.
  

Indian benchmark indices fall slightly in early trade on Monday. While the benchmark indices opened in the red, they recovered fast. Sensex was trading flat with a positive bias while Nifty50 was also up 7 points at 11:00 am.

The indices have been hitting new highs after a list of good news like heightened industrial activity, central bank increasing FY24 growth rate projections, stable oil prices, weakening USD and more. The Fed’s decision to hold rate hikes also triggered a global rally in stocks.

Auto and pharma stocks are amongst top gainers on Nifty50 today. Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s and Divis Labs are the top gainers in the index. ITC, L&T, Coal India and ICICI Bank stocks opened in the red.

Market experts believe that the rally seen in the last seven days in the stock markets is expected to go on. "The rally is being driven by segments like banking and IT which were under performers for quite some time. During the last two weeks while the Nifty is up by 6%, Bank Nifty is up by 7.4% and Nifty IT is up by around 11%,” said Dr V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

SGX Nifty has been holding steady early in trade, and that’s a signal for Nifty bulls to regroup at lower levels, says Prashanth Tapse, senior VP of research at Mehta Equities. He believes that Nifty faces resistance at 21,650, with support at 21,209.

He also has a bullish outlook on Asian Paints, Bank of Baroda, Indusind Bank, Sun Pharma, Zomato, and Tech Mahindra. Bank of Baroda is specifically identified as a top buy, said Tapse.

Midcaps to see profit-booking

In the last two weeks, FIIs invested around ₹20,000 crore, including bulk purchase. Domestic investors too have been active in the market, both pushing the markets higher. Higher tax collections and a recovery in the Rupee are adding more positive news for the Indian stock markets.

Most experts have pegged that the stock market rally might go on, and will only see spurts of profit booking. “Global and domestic factors, except valuations, are favourable for the market. It makes sense to remain invested, particularly in large caps. Some profit booking can be considered in mid and small caps where valuations are very high,” said Vijayakumar.