Share market holiday: On August 18, after hitting record highs, the Sensex ended 162.78 points, or 0.29%, lower at 55,629.49, while Nifty fell 45.80 points, or 0.28%, to close at 16,568.80.
The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the BSE will remain closed on August 19 on account of Muharram.
Wholesale commodity markets, including metal and bullion, will also remain shut. There will be no trading activity in the forex and commodity futures markets either.
On August 18, after hitting record highs, the Sensex ended 162.78 points, or 0.29%, lower at 55,629.49, while Nifty fell 45.80 points, or 0.28%, to close at 16,568.80.
Sensex and Nifty touched their fresh record high levels of 56,118.57 and 16,701.85, respectively.
“The index faced some selling pressure and gave up its gains. However, the trend continues to remain positive and traders should use corrections like these to accumulate long positions. The Nifty has a good support at 16400 and until we do not close below this level, the momentum continues to be strong and bullish,” said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.
Hindalco Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and SBI Life Insurance were the top Nifty gainers. Eicher Motors, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports and Bajaj Finserv were among the top losers.
Among sectors, the Nifty metal and bank indices fall 0.8 percent each, while buying was seen in the FMCG, pharma and PSU Bank names.
“We remain cautious on the markets as there is no clear direction over the next move. High volatility and profit taking in broader markets are adding to the participants’ worries. We suggest investors to remain selective and prefer investing in defensive sectors such as FMCG, IT and Pharma,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking.
The broader indices front, BSE midcap rose 0.26 percent and smallcap indices was down 0.18 percent.
On August 18, the Indian rupee ended higher by 10 paise at 74.24 per dollar, against previous close of 74.34.”With a stronger US Dollar index being countered by falling oil prices and corporate dollar inflows, USDINR may continue to remain within the low volatile zone for some more time. Tonight, US FOMC minutes may be a market mover, which could likely push USDINR higher towards 74.40 levels, if they sound hawkish,” said Anindya Banerjee, DVP, Currency Derivatives & Interest Rate Derivatives at Kotak Securities.
