Nifty ends above 17,200; banks, FMCG, pharma, and NBFCs drag the market

Sectors that felt the heat included the private banks, FMCG< pharma and NBFCs.

Market update at 3.30 PM: It has been a disappointing day for the bulls as Nifty had a free-fall today, as it shredded about 300 points or 1.76 per cent. The sell-off was broad-based as both, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap ended a per cent lower. The fear was growing; evident from the fact that India VIX climbed over 8 per cent at the end of the day.  

Sectors that felt the heat included the private banks, FMCG, pharma and NBFCs. However, PSU banks continue to outperform the market while their index ended higher today.  

The top losers’ list includes Tata Consumer Products Ltd, HDFC Bank, and HDFC Life while Power Grid Corp, ONGC, and NTPC emerged winners today.  

With an amazing recovery witnessed in the last half hour, Nifty managed to close above 17,200. The levels of 17,200 and 17,100 will continue to act as a strong support zone.  

Market update at 2 PM: Nifty is down by over 2 per cent and trades near 17,150. Sensex has tanked over 1,200 points. The sell-off is experienced in the broader market too as Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have fallen about 1.25 per cent each.  

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Bank, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Financial Services are the top indices dragging the market. Nifty PSU Bank, which was about 4 per cent up until morning, has shed about 2 per cent of its gains.  

The stocks of HDFC, HDFC Bank, and HDFC Life have been severely sold off as all of them have slipped over 3 per cent each. Meanwhile, ONGC, Power Grid Corporation, and SBI are trading higher.  

Nifty is having a freefall and it remains to be seen whether 17,100 is breached or not.

Market update at 12.15 PM: Nifty has recorded the day’s low at 17,265 and is currently down by 1.36 per cent. Sensex has tanked about 800 points while the mid-cap and small-cap indices are also feeling the heat. 

India VIX has surged over 5 per cent with Nifty’s collapse. Apart from Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal, all other indices are trading in deep red. Nifty PSU Bank is up by over 3 per cent and holding on firmly.  

LT, HDFC Bank, and Hero MotoCorp have fallen by over 3 per cent each. Out of 50 Nifty stocks, only seven of them are trading in green. SBI and Tata Steel have gained over 2 per cent & 1 per cent, respectively. With 17,400 and 17,300 breached, the short-term outlook has turned bearish. Moreover, the calls of 17,400 and 17,500 have been aggressively written, which demonstrates the bearish sentiment among the market participants. 

Market update at 10.15 AM: Indices are trading lower in the first hour of the trade. Nifty has slipped by about 0.60 per cent while Sensex tanked about 300 points, so far. The broader markets are also trading lower as Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have lost about half a per cent each. With this fall, India VIX has surged about 3 per cent.  

The fall is majorly led by the indices of IT, pharma, and auto while the indices of PSU bank & metals have been outperforming the market.  

The level of 17,400 happens to be a crucial support zone while Nifty, falling below the key level, will bring further weakness.  

Pre-market update: The US markets closed flat to positive on Friday night. Despite that, the Asian markets have opened slightly lower with SGX Nifty indicating a 80-point loss in Nifty.

US jobs data was released on Friday, which came out to be better-than-expected. Around 4,67,000 new jobs were added despite rising Coronavirus cases in the US last month. This brought positivity in the US markets.

On the last trading session, the FIIs sold for about Rs 2,267 crore while the DIIs have bought about Rs 622 crore worth of equity.

RBI had scheduled the monetory policy meet between February 8-10. The buzz is that the reverse repo rate might be increased by 25 bps.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, SBI and Tata Steel have declared better-than-expected results and are likely to be in focus today.

Crude oil prices have surged over 4 per cent on Monday morning while the precious metals are trading slightly higher.

With Nifty opening below 17,500, the first hour remains a crucial one in anticipating further trends of the market.