Nifty closes below 16,500; banks and auto drag

Power Grid Corporation, ONGC, and Wipro emerged as the top gainers

Market update at 3.30 PM: The majority of the indices displayed a poor performance as they lost the early gains and closed negatively. Nifty closed lower by 0.65 per cent at 16,498. Sensex tanked about 366 points while the broader market Nifty 500 plunged 0.45 per cent. 

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT and Nifty Metal continued to trade higher and support the market. The indices closed higher by 1.22 per cent & 1.2 per cent, respectively. However, sectors like banking and auto contributed the most in dragging the market. Power Grid Corporation, ONGC, and Wipro emerged as the top gainers while UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints & HDFC Life were the top losers. 

Furthermore, the headline news of Russia-Ukraine will act as a catalyst for driving the global markets for some more time.  

Market update at 12.45 PM: Indices have been experiencing selling pressure at higher levels. Nifty has fallen by nearly 230 points from its day’s high. It is currently down by 0.37 per cent while Sensex has lost about 180 points. Nifty Midcap is trading flat whereas Nifty Smallcap is currently up by half a per cent. 

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT and Nifty Metal are trading higher by over 1 per cent each while Nifty Bank & Nifty Auto are weak and trading lower by 0.78 per cent & 1.23 per cent, respectively. 

Among Nifty stocks, Coal India, Wipro, and Power Grid Corp emerged as the top gainers while UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, and HDFC Life turned out to be the top losers. 

Nifty is above 16,500 and this level is likely to act as a strong support level. 

Market update at 10.15 AM: After a decent gap-up opening, the indices continue to trade higher with some pressure at higher levels. Nifty is currently up by 30 points while mid-cap and small-cap indices are trading higher by 0.75 per cent & 1.11 per cent, respectively.  

Among the sectors, media, metals, and IT are trading stronger while banks & auto are slightly weaker. India VIX has cooled off by 4 per cent and is placed at 27.95.   

The highest addition of open interest on the call side is done at 16,800 while 16,000 & 16,500 have seen a huge addition of open interest on the put side. Thus, we can expect Nifty to trade in the range of 16,500-16,800 today.  

Pre-market update: Last night, the US markets closed positively with NASDAQ gaining about 1.62 per cent and Dow Jones climbing around 600 points. With this, the Asian markets have opened higher and SGX Nifty indicates a higher opening of about 60 points.  

The global tensions continue to persist with both sides failing to reach an agreement. Russian forces continue their aggression in Ukraine.  

In the last trading session, the FIIs sold for about Rs 4,338 crore while the DIIs have bought about Rs 3,061 crore worth of equity.  

The maximum open interest stands at 17,000, followed by 17,500 on the call side. In the case of puts, the maximum open interest stands at 16,000. Thus, Nifty is likely to close in a broad range of 16,000-17,000 for today’s expiry.  

With some stability emerging in the global markets, we can expect VIX to cool off slightly.