India’s benchmark indices opened flat on Monday, with early trade witnessing heavy selling in the FMCG sector.
The Nifty 50 declined 43.90 points, or 0.18 percent, to open at 24,633.90, while the BSE Sensex dropped 106.54 points, or 0.13 percent, to 81,602.58.
Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert, said that Indian markets have recovered over 50 percent of their post-September fall.
“We expect markets to consolidate before resuming their uptrend,” he said, adding that “seasonality and capital flows favor a market advance.”
Bagga highlighted global events, particularly the US CPI report, as key indicators for the week, along with an anticipated 25 basis point rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on December 18.
A mixed trend was observed across sectoral indices. Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty saw gains, while Nifty IT slipped marginally. Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 22 registered gains while 28 declined at the time of reporting.
Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, said: “The Nifty’s drop on Friday traced a small-sized bar contained within Thursday’s long-range, creating a so-called “inside day”. This represents volatility compression but since volatility is cyclical, one should expect a trending move soon. At current prices, the Nifty is facing resistance from the 50- and 100-day moving averages and an Ichimoku hurdle, so the 24800 – 24900 area is formidable. Support lies at 24,445 and 24,360″
Among top gainers were L&T, Bajaj Finance, SBI Life, HDFC Bank, and Shriram Finance. Major laggards included Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consumer, and Britannia.
Foreign investors made a strong comeback last week, with Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) injecting over Rs 24,400 crore into Indian equities between December 2 and 6. The largest single-day inflow was recorded on Friday, when FPIs invested Rs 9,489 crore.
Sunil Gurjar, SEBI-registered analyst and founder of Alphamojo Financial Services, said, “Nifty 50’s outperformance last week, rising by 546 points, signals a bullish trend. The series of bullish candles shows growing buyer interest, likely pushing prices higher.”
In broader Asian markets, South Korea’s KOSPI index fell amid political uncertainty, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.33 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Taiwan’s Weighted Index posted modest gains of 0.27 percent and 0.10 percent, respectively.
(With ANI input)
