Stock market today: Sensex, Nifty inch up marginally, NTPC and Power Grid take early lead

Sensex and Nifty opened the day in red, only to inch up marginally during early trade. As of 9:35 am, Sensex was trading at 81,428.63, up by 0.089%, while Nifty was trading at 24,859.15, up by 0.09% on July 30th, 2024.

NTPC and Power Grid Corporation of India inched by 2% each during early trade today. Asian Paints, Britannia, and Hindustan Unilever were also among the top gainers, rising by 1% each. On the other hand, Hindalco and SBI Life were down by over 1% each. LTI Mindtree, Larsen and Toubro, and HDFC Life were also among the leading laggards.

All broad market indices opened the day in green, with the India VIX up by 0.79%. Except for financial services, IT, metal, pharma, and healthcare indices, all other sectoral indices opened the day in green.

Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares, notes that the benchmark index began the week on a strong note, but BankNifty-led correction pulled the index lower to end July 29th trade at 24,836. On the daily chart, the index has formed a small red candle with a probable bearish divergence in RSI, indicating a temporary pause in its journey towards the north, and the same was suggested by GIFT Nifty as well.

"A level of 25,000 will continue to act as an immediate resistance while 22,560 is a strong support point. The FMCG and IT segments are showing signs of a minor pause in their uptrend, but the overall uptrend will remain intact. Stock-specific buying can be anticipated in the metal sector. Investors should keep an eye on the chemical and textile segments, as a couple of stocks are gaining positive momentum. We believe that the mid-and small-caps will extend their outperformance," he continued.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, highlighted that the benchmark indices witnessed a volatile trading session on Monday, with the markets closing at unchanged levels even as Nifty and Sensex hit new highs of 24,999 and 81,908.

"For traders, 24,700-24,750/81,250-81,150 would be the key support zone, while 24,950 -25,000/81,800-82,000 would act as crucial resistance zones for the Bulls. A close below 24,750/81,250 could trigger further weakness. Bank Nifty witnessed heavy profit booking above 52,000 levels, however, it has strong support between 51,200 and 51,000. Technically, we believe the Bank Nifty could be a more interesting index to trade. For the day, 51,800, would be a major resistance, and a close above this may help the index to again move towards 52,000 and 52,350. A close below 51,000 may lead to further weakness," he said.

The strategy should be to buy on dips and keep a low stop loss at given levels on a closing basis. For investors, selective buying can be done between 24,600 and 24,500, he continued.