Nifty closes below 17800; dragged by IT, Pharma

Market update at 3.30PM: It has been a disappointing weekly expiry for Nifty as it slipped about a per cent. Moreover, Sensex tanked 569 points. 

The latter half of the session was quite volatile as Nifty hit a low of 17648. Towards the end, Nifty recovered slightly and closed at 17757.  

Prominent contributors to Nifty’s downfall were Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma which fell about 1.66 per cent each. However, Nifty Metal stayed strong and ended in green. 

Top gainers for today were Power Grid and Bharti Airtel, while the top stocks dragging the market were Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Auto. 

With 17800 decisively broken, we find the next support at 17600 and 17500. Focus would be on global trends for further clues. 

Market update at 2.30 PM: Bloodbath continues as Nifty falls about 1.5 per cent and Sensex tanks over 950 points. Moreover, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap, which were trading positively during the early morning, have started to trade in the red.  

Nifty IT is the worst-affected sector as it has fallen nearly 2 per cent. Along with IT, auto, pharma, FMCG, media, all are below 1 per cent.  

Thus, the mayhem continues on D-street and it remains to be seen whether it breaks further supports or not.  

Market update at 1 PM: Indices are trading lower in the first half of the session as Nifty has slipped about 0.70 per cent and is trading near 17,800 while Sensex lost nearly 500 points. However, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are trading positively. 

The top sectors dragging the market include IT, pharma & media while realty, PSU banks, and the metal sector supported the market. 

The 18,000 call option has the highest open interest and thus, Nifty is likely to expire below 18,000. Moreover, 17,800 short straddles have been created today, which suggests that market participants are expecting Nifty to close near 17,800 on the day of expiry. 

Market update at 10 AM: Nifty opened around the level of 17,900 and witnessed selling pressure in the initial hour of the trade. Nifty is currently trading about half a per cent lower while Sensex has lost about 270 points. Meanwhile, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are trading in the positive territory.   

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty Media are trading lower while the banking indices, FMCG, auto & realty are in green.   

The level of 17,800 happens to be the next key support level where we could see Nifty making significant price action.  

Pre-market update: Last night, the US markets tumbled in the end after trading positive in the initial hours of the trade. NASDAQ fell about 1.15 per cent while Dow Jones tanked 339 points. Thus, Asian markets have opened lower due to weaker global cues. SGX Nifty is currently lower by 60 points and indicates opening below 17,900. 

China has cut its key interest rates early in the morning due to which, the Hong Kong market is higher by over 400 points.  

Crude oil surges for the fourth consecutive day and is up by over 1 per cent. Besides, Gold has surged over 1 per cent while Silver soared over 2 per cent. 

In the last trading session, the FIIs & DIIs turned out to be the net sellers for third consecutive day with the former selling for about Rs 2,704 crore while the latter sold for around Rs 195 crore. 

HUL, Asian Paints, and Bajaj Finserv are some of the top companies, which shall be declaring their results today. 

With Nifty likely to open below 17,900, the next support is the crucial level of 17,800.