Indices wipe off gains; financials and auto sectors drag the market

Among the sectors, financials, private banks & auto showed a dismal performance and their indices closed lower

Market update at 3.30 PM: It was going all well until the last hour of the trade when the Indian indices witnessed a severe sell-off. Nifty lost all its gains and closed lower by 0.17 per cent. Sensex shredded about 68 points at the end. Even the broader indices felt the heat as Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap lost half of what they gained during the day.  

Among the sectors, financials, private banks & auto showed a dismal performance and their indices closed lower. However, media, realty as well as PSU stocks gained and supported the market throughout the day. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, and IndusInd Bank emerged as the top gainers while ONGC, Hero MotoCorp & JSW Steel traded weak today.   

The 17,200 call option added huge open interest while on the put side, the maximum open interest is seen at 16,500. The 17,200 remains a tough resistance for Thursday. Meanwhile, global cues would be keenly watched

Market update at 12.15 PM: Nifty has been trading higher amid volatility in the first half of the session. It is up by 0.45 per cent while Sensex has gained about 300 points. It is a broad-based rally as Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have soared about 1.26 per cent & 1.83 per cent, respectively.   

India VIX has slipped further to 7 per cent and is currently placed at 24.64. The top stocks supporting the market are Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, and Asian Paints while the stocks that are weak today include ONGC, JSW Steel & Grasim.  

Market update at 10 AM: The Indian indices have been trading higher on Wednesday morning. Nifty is up by half a per cent while Sensex has gained about 300 points.  

Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have also witnessed positivity and are up by 1.5 per cent & 2.10 per cent, respectively. With this, India VIX has crashed over 6 per cent.  

Nifty is hovering around 17,200 and with such positivity, we can expect Nifty to scale upwards.  

Pre-market update: Last night, the US markets closed in red on the account of rising tensions in Eastern Europe. US President Joe Biden has announced some sanctions on Russia as a response to Russia's statement of declaring Ukraine's two regions as independent. 

With this, the Asian markets have opened mixed while SGX Nifty indicates a 70-point higher opening. 

In the last trading session, the FIIs sold for about Rs 3,235 crore but DIIs supported the market throughout the day and bought about Rs 4,108 crore worth of equity. 

On Wednesday morning, Crude oil is marginally higher while natural gas is down by 2 per cent. However, the precious metals are trading slightly higher. 

With monthly expiry approaching, the 17,500 call option holds the highest open interest while PCR is placed at 0.83, indicating bearishness. 

The market is likely to be choppy and volatility is expected to be high. The 17,000 will act as crucial support for the next few days.