Both Sensex and Nifty were off to a flat start today, with Nifty trading at 23,431.40 points, down 0.30% as of 9:58 am. As for Sensex, the index was trading at 76,986.21 points, down by 0.29%, as of 9:59 am. All major sectoral indices opened the day in red except for Nifty FMCG and consumer durables, whereas India VIX, seen as a measure of volatility in the market, was up by 3.90%. Nifty PSU banks opened the day in red, down by 1.26%.
Stocks to watch out for
Paytm (One97 Communications Ltd) informed NSE of its recent partnership with leading global travel meta platforms like Skyscanner, Google Flights, and Wego. The platform also saw an increase in its market share in Q4. Passengers who flew via Paytm grew at 19%, as opposed to the industry average of 3%. During early morning trade, the stock was trading at Rs 407.15, down by 0.91%.
MAS Financial Services Limited announced raising about Rs 500 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP). The stock was trading at Rs 315.65, up by 1.23%.
According to Mr. Aditya Gaggar, Director of Progressive Shares, "an early indication from GIFT Nifty suggests a tepid opening of the Indian equities and the index will oscillate in a well-maintained range of 23,400-23,660. A clear breakout on either sides will provide a precise picture, until then we will remain status quo."
"The Auto sector has formed a bearish engulfing pattern at record levels depicting a continuation of the corrective move. For the past couple of weeks, sugar stocks have been seen strengthening their move upwards and we are positive on Andhra Sugar, Balrampur Chini, and Dalmia Bharat Sugar. A bullish Flag and Pole formation breakout was witnessed in the IT space. From the mid and smallcap segments, some stocks have delivered strong breakouts namely Asahi India Glass, Ramky Infra, BEPL and GHCL, IGPL, S P Apparels Ltd", he continued.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities advises staying within a defined range while trading during the day. "We expect weak sentiment as long as the market is trading below 23,700/77,800, and anticipate a retest of 23,400/76,700 levels. Further downside may continue, possibly dragging the market towards 23,200/76,100. The prudent strategy would be to buy between 23,000 and 23,200 levels with a stop loss at 23,000 on a closing basis. Keep reducing positions if indices move towards 23,600/23,700 levels".
As per Progressive Shares, stocks of S P Apparels with a target price of Rs 800-920, for a horizon of 6-9 months can be a viable investment. Additionally, the brokers also recommend investing in Asahi India Glass Ltd with a target price between Rs 786-894, for a period of 3-6 months.
