A Dull Day For Markets

It was an eventless, dull day of trade as Nifty traded in an extremely narrow band of about 30 points. It was a balancing act as far as Nifty was concerned as for just about every weak stock/sector there was almost an equally strong stock/sector. So we had weakness in Autos, Banks, Capital Goods while strength was seen in
FMCG, Healthcare, IT and metals. But, there were no runaway gainers or losers as stocks too traded without much of a direction. Some mid caps did see some action and volumes and that could be attributed to year end re-jig in portfolios’. Hind Oil and Moser Baer notched up significant gains on above average volumes while Praj attracted huge volumes for second successive day. Some other mid cap gainers were KS Oils, Hexaware, Noida Toll and KFA. Ranbaxy was the biggest index gainer while Tata Motors was the biggest loser. Some other significant losers were Patni, Indian Bank, Tulip, Uco Bank, Axis Bank, Mundra, OBC and BOI. Nifty ended the day almost unchanged at just below 6000.

Nothing much changed technically as it was yet another narrow range day. Still, we have supports around 5940-50 while resistance is at around 6030-45. Volatility has shrunk over past 10-12 sessions as Nifty continues to trade in a listless manner. But, this also suggests that we are witnessing the proverbial lull before the storm and Nifty could see a breakout either way. All long positions must have a Nifty stop loss at below
5930 while Shorts must keep a stop above 6070. Expansion in range with increased volatility is likely soon and may happen over next 3-4 sessions. As of now, Autos and Banks continue to show weakness while IT, Metals and selective pharma counters remain strong. Weakness is likely to persist in mid caps banking stocks in particular.

Nifty has support around 5950-60 and then around 5885-5890 while resistance is likely around 6030 and then 6080.