Nifty closes below 17,500; Maruti Suzuki and HDFC twins emerge as top losers

ONGC, Apollo Hospitals, and UPL emerged as the top gainers

Market update at 3.30 PM: Indices remained weak throughout the day while Nifty has closed below the 17,500 support level. The benchmark index is down by 0.31 per cent and closed at 17,475.65. Meanwhile, Sensex lost about 237 points while Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices closed on a mixed note.  

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Pharma closed higher while Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty Realty & Nifty Media ended negatively.   

ONGC, Apollo Hospitals, and UPL emerged as the top gainers while Maruti Suzuki, HDFC & HDFC Bank were the top losers today.  

On the technical chart, Nifty has formed a bearish candle, indicating weakness. However, the index did not breach Tuesday’s low and thus, is likely to remain choppy for a few more days. With the long weekend coming up, all eyes would be on the US markets and SGX Nifty, which would further decide the opening of Nifty on Monday.

Market Update 11.15 AM: The indices have wiped out early gains and are trading marginally higher. Nifty has lost about 120 points from its day’s high and is currently trading marginally higher. Meanwhile, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap also climbed 0.40 per cent & 0.73 per cent, respectively.  

Among the sectors, PSU banks, metals, and energy are trading higher while media, pharma & auto are weak.   

ONGC, UPL, and Coal India are currently the top gainers while the advance-decline ratio stands at 1362:550. 

Market update at 10 AM: Indices have been trading higher amid volatility. Nifty inched higher by 0.40 per cent while Sensex climbed over 180 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have also gained about 0.90 per cent & 0.68 per cent, respectively.  

Among the sectors, energy, metals, and realty are trading higher while pharma & IT are weak.  

With this, India VIX has crashed by over 4 per cent.  

Pre-market update: Last night, the US markets closed lower amid huge volatility. NASDAQ slipped about 0.30 per cent while Dow Jones lost around 90 points. However, most of the Asian markets have opened higher, and SGX Nifty is in positive territory, higher by 15 points.

The US CPI jumped 8.5 per cent, which is the sharpest jump in 40 years. In India, the CPI rises to a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March. Thus, inflation is a major concern among investors lately.

Infosys is set to declare its results today and would be the stock to focus on.

In the last trading session, the FIIs have sold for Rs 3,128 crore while the DIIs bought about Rs 870 crore worth of equity.

Nifty is expected to be hugely volatile today due to the weekly expiry.