Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX ended at 14.17, down 1.35% from the last closing.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said Nifty retraced and slipped back below the 50DMA due to a lack of buying interest at higher levels following a gap-up start. The index is confined roughly within the band of the 21EMA (25641) and the 50DMA (25737), he said.
“India VIX remained elevated, while the index continued to hold above the 200DMA. The daily RSI remained indecisive despite a positive crossover. In the short term, the index may remain sideways unless it moves above 25750 or falls below 25,600,” he added.
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Tech View
Nilesh Jain, Vice President – Head of Technical and Derivative Research at Centrum Finverse, said Nifty encountered strong resistance today near its 50-DMA at 25,740, resulting in the formation of a small-bodied bullish candle with long upper and lower shadows, indicating indecision at higher levels.
“A decisive move above 25,800 is crucial to trigger short covering, which could propel the index towards 26,000. On the downside, immediate support is placed at the 21-DMA near 25,570. With the February monthly F&O expiry approaching, we expect heightened volatility in the index. Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX has eased to 14.10; however, a sustained move below 13 is necessary for bulls to regain firm control,” Jain said.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
HDFC Bank (Rs 258 crore), IDFC First Bank (Rs 238 crore), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 147 crore), Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL, Rs 137), Netweb Technologies (Rs 125 crore), State Bank of India (SBI, Rs 112 crore) and Aurobindo Pharma (Rs 111 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
IDFC First Bank (Traded shares: 3.44 crore), Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 2.93 crore), Ola Electric (Traded shares: 1.24 crore), SpiceJet (Traded shares: 1.01 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 51.95 lakh), EaseMyTrip (Easy Trip Planners, Traded shares: 45.86 crore) and Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 41.62 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Adani Ports, HDFC Bank, Morepen Laboratories, Blue Jet Healthcare, Aegis Vopak Terminals, Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI) and Jindal Poly Films were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
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52 Week high
A total of 124 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 238 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows on Monday. Among the ones which hit their 52-week highs included AB Infrabuild, Acceleratebs India, Astral, Bank of Baroda (BoB), Bharat Forge, Cummins India< Bank of Maharashtra and Marico.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Among the large-cap names were Hindalco Industries, Wipro and Infosys. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were IDFC First Bank, UPL, AU Small Finance Bank, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Godfrey Phillips India, 63 moons technologies, E2E Networks and M & B Engineering.
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Sentiment meter favours bears
While the action in heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bharti Airtel aided the markets the most, the breadth stayed negative in broader markets. Out of the 4,497 stocks that traded on the BSE on February 23, Monday, 1,932 stocks witnessed advances, 2,381 saw declines, while 184 stocks remained unchanged.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)