Nifty closes below 18,000; financials and realty drag

Adani Ports, NTPC, and Tata Motors emerged as the top gainers

Market update at 3.30 PM: Indices witnessed selling pressure in the last half hour of the trading session. Nifty fell about 80 points and closed at 17,957.40, down by 0.53 per cent while Sensex lost about 435 points at the end of the day. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap, on the contrary, closed higher by about 1.38 per cent & 0.85 per cent, respectively.  

Among the sectors, auto and FMCG were the top sectors supporting the market while banks, NBFCs, and realty dragged the market. Adani Ports, NTPC, and Tata Motors emerged as the top gainers while HDFC, HDFC Bank & Bajaj Finserv were the top losers. With this, India VIX rose over 3 per cent.  

Nifty formed a strong bearish candle on the technical chart while the level of 18,100 emerged as the tough resistance to break.   

Market update at 11.15 AM: Indices are flat amid volatility. Nifty is currently down by 40 points and is hovering around 18,000 while Nifty Midcap & Nifty Smallcap are trading higher by nearly a per cent each.  

Among the sectors, auto and FMCG are outperforming the other sectors while financials are weak today after a strong rally on Monday. Adani Ports, Eicher Motors, and Tata Motors are currently the top gainers among Nifty stocks while HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv & HDFC are weak today.  

Market update at 9.35 AM: Indices have opened marginally higher and are trading with volatility. Nifty is currently up by just 4 points while Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are trading higher by more than half a per cent each. 

Among the sectors, auto, media, pharma, and IT are trading higher while financials are lower today. With this, India VIX has surged over 2 per cent. 

Pre-market update: Last night, the US markets closed higher and NASDAQ gained about 1.90 per cent while Dow Jones gained around 103 points. Also, the Indian market outperformed the global markets on Monday as Nifty surged about 2.17 per cent. With such positivity, SGX Nifty indicates the addition of 100 points for Nifty during the opening.
In the last trading session, both the FIIs as well as the DIIs were net buyers and bought for Rs 1,152 & Rs 1,675 crore, respectively.
Petrol and diesel prices have been hiked yet another day by 80 paise, taking the tally to Rs 9.20 in nearly two weeks.
HDFC group of stocks are likely to be in focus today as well after HDFC and HDFC Bank merger news.
Nifty is likely to open above 18,100 while the level of 18,200 shall act as a strong resistance.