Market Close: Sensex, Nifty Bounced from Previous Record Highs

MAHARASHTRA, India – The Indian stock market benchmark indices were down on Monday, following a weak wholesale inflation report.

The Sensex and Nifty stock indices bounced from its previous highs, recording declines on Monday. From rallying for three consecutive days, the S&P BSE Sensex index shed around 70.99 points for the day to settle at 40,938.72. Early in the day, the Sensex hit a new record high after reaching 41,185 but pared its earlier gains as the market closes.

The Nifty index was also down by 26 points to end the trading session at 12,060.70.

Under shares listed in the Sensex index, 1122 stocks recorded gains for the day, while 1342 has tracked marginal declines, and 207 stocks remained unchanged for the day.

Gainers in the index include the HCL Technologies, TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, and HDFC. Among the major losers include the Adani ports, ITC, JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, and Grasim Industries.

Among sector, most have tracked losses at the end of the trading day, except for the IT sector. The declines for the day were mostly led by the drop in share prices within the infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, energy, FMCG, and auto stocks.

According to the Vice President of Research at the Religare Broking, Ajit Mishra, most investors are expecting the market to continue trading under pressure, at least in the near term, because of the lack of positive triggers that could boost the sentiments of market players.

Further, Mishra said that the market players continue to watch global market factors including currency movement, crude oil price, and the development in the US-China trade negotiations which is expected to sign its partial trade agreement soon.

Nagarat Shetti, a technical and derivative analyst at the HDFC Securities, also stated that the three upside sessions of the market have ended today. Despite the range movement for Nifty early in the trade, it closed the trading day significantly lower, Shetti stated.

Shetti also predicted that the Nifty index is looking towards a downward reversal in the short term. A sustainable move of the index below the 12,000 marks could mean that it will face more weakness going forward. The overhead resistance for the index is looking towards the 12,150 to 12,200 levels.

However, according to the head of research in equity at the Indiabulls Ventures, the overall trend of Nifty at the moment remains bullish. Although it’s a lot far from its record highs, once Nifty inches higher to a new record high, it can go up to as much as the 12,400 zones.