Stock market opening: Sensex, Nifty open the day in green, IT, Metal, Oil and Gas take lead

Sensex and Nifty both registered gains during early trade on Friday morning. Sensex was trading at over 700 points to trade at 79,903.46, while Nifty was up by 1.01% to trade at 24,387.00 points as of 9:27 am on Friday, 16th August 2024.

Mahindra and Mahindra, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, and LTI Mindtree gained an early lead in the morning trade. However, HDFC Life, Dr. Reddy's, and Hero Moto Corp were among the leading laggards.

All broad market and sectoral indices opened the week's end in green. Amongst broad market indices, small and mid cap indices inched up by over 1% each, while India VIX dipped by over 2%. Bank, auto, IT, media, metal, private bank, realty and oil and gas inched up by over 1% each today morning.

Sameet Chavan, Head Research, Technical and Derivative - Angel One notes that ahead of the mid-week holiday, traders seemed to prefer keeping positions light, leading to minimal changes in daily chart price action. Following the sharp sell-off last Monday, prices have been oscillating within a defined range, lacking momentum in either direction. "The broader market remains under pressure, reflecting a bearish tone, with only selective stocks performing well. Traders are advised to avoid complacent bets and be selective in stock choices. Additionally, it’s important to monitor global developments and focus on the mentioned levels, ideally trading in the direction of the breakout rather than wavering between trends", he continued.

Mr. Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares, highlights that regarding sectors, the IT space has given a breakout, suggesting a continuation of an uptrend (HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra). Conversely, the metal sector has given a breakdown from its long-term trendline support, indicating an extension of the corrective moves. As indicated earlier, the pharma segment has developed a bearish divergence defining a short-term trend reversal but such a correction will be short-lived considering its strong uptrend

Says Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, "Day traders should focus on key levels at 24,200/79,100, which if surpassed could lead to a quick retracement to 24,300-24,400/79,400-79,700. Conversely, intense selling pressure could be seen below the 50-day SMA at 24,050/78,800 or 24,000/78,500, potentially leading the market towards 23800/77900. Real strength may emerge if indices manage to close above the level of 24,500/80,000, pulling the market up to 24,900/81,200. Our advice is to reduce weak long positions until the market trades below 24,500 levels."