Indian shares in Friday’s session opened lower despite several positive Asian markets. Earlier, the Sensex was down 0.16 percent or 129.24 points at 79,814.47, while the Nify50 index started trading down 0.11 percent or 26.95 points at 24,161.7.
The broader markets, however, outperformed the indexes ahead with the Nify Smallcap 100 index up about 0.6 percent at last count.
Sector-wise, in a mixed session, PSU Bank and oil and gas stocks led the PSU Bank index higher by over 1 percent, while IT, pharma and private banking led the losses with the IT pack leading losses today.
Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, “The market’s amazing ability to surprise was evident in yesterday’s massive rally of 445 points in the Nifty. Good enough to trigger such a massive 1.8 percent rally in the Nify.”
Short covering in some hard-hit stocks like the Bajaj twins and a sharp rise in auto stocks helped by better-than-expected December sales numbers contributed to the rally, he added.
A technical perspective
Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities said, “The Nifty had its best day since November 22 and managed to close the gap above Nov 19’s 24150 gap with a smart bull run. For the second time in a row, the mid-December break of the 200-day average turned into a bear trap That said, follow-through here is key, with a barrier immediate at 24250 and critical resistance at 24306.”
Support lies at 24000 with an extension of 23830. Speaking periodically, based on the last year of data, Friday was the best day of the week for the nifty – the index gained 0.2% on average with a win rate of 60%. at this time, he added.
Asian markets
Most Asian stocks were trading higher in early Asian trade led by sharp gains in South Korean shares. At last count, South Korea’s KOSPI traded up nearly 2 percent. The key MSCI Asia ex Japan index traded up 0.67 percent.
Stock markets in Japan are closed and will remain closed until January 6, resulting in soft trading.