Domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Monday. BSE Sensex traded at 74,124.96, higher by 394.80 pts or 0.54 per cent as of 9.40 am and Nifty 50 traded at 22,500.10, up 80.15 pts or 0.36 per cent.

“Traders, however, will find opportunities, as we see Nifty swinging about three per cent, on either side of 22,300, without taking off in any direction, for a week or so. For the day, expect positivity while above 22,450, but expect momentum to slow down on rise to 22,600. Bearish moves are less likely to get directional unless below 22,370/330”, says, Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, commenting on the nifty outlook.

“The Nifty index, after witnessing a bullish candle formation in the previous session, succumbed to profit booking, finding resistance near the 22,600 levels and eroded some of its gains, having the important support zone near the significant 50EMA level of 22,150 below which the bias can turn weak”, says, Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd.

“Sensex has resisted the 0.786 per cent retracement of the recent fall and closed below the 20 DMA level of 73,850. The support for the day is seen at 73,400/22,300 levels, while the resistance is seen at 74,200/22,600 levels,” says Parekh.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, pointed out, “The major negative in the market continues to be the sustained selling by FIIs, triggered by the high bond yields in the US. This selling by FIIs, in both equity and debt, will continue to weigh on markets so long as the US bond yields remain high, which, in turn, will be decided by the US inflation numbers. The latest US core PCE inflation numbers came in on expected lines with 2.8 per cent y-o-y growth. Consequently, the bond yields have marginally drifted down and the US equity markets surged last Friday. FII selling will continue, but is likely to be lower than in recent days.

“ICICI Bank results are very good. Impressive growth in deposit and credit and decline in NPAs augur well for the stock. HCL Tech’s low guidance of 3-5 per cent revenue growth in FY25 will weigh on the stock. Pharma and auto sectors will continue to remain resilient,” Vijayakumar added.

Stocks to watch

The stocks that gained on the NSE as of 9.47 am were SBI Life (2.24 per cent higher), Divi’s Lab (2.08 per cent), IndusInd (1.82 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.81 per cent) and Ultratech Cement (1.48 per cent). The major laggards were Apollo Hospitals (-8.06 per cent), HCL Technologies (-5.57 per cent), M&M (-1.76 per cent), Bajaj Auto (-1.24 per cent) and Shriram Finance (-1.10 per cent).

Sectoral indices trade in a mix. Nifty FMCG, IT, healthcare and realty stocks trade in the negative territory. Realty stocks declined by 1.21 per cent to trade at 957.30. Nifty Bank was up 0.45 per cent at 48,416.45, nifty oil and gas was up 0.57 per cent at 11,852.60.

ICICI Bank stock hits 52-week high on the NSE at ₹1,131.70. As of 9.50 am, the stock traded at ₹1,129.30, up 1.93 per cent.

Coforge has received an order from GST Authority imposing penalty of ₹40,665 under applicable provisions of Central Goods and Services Act, 2017. The stock traded at ₹5,257.65 on the NSE, up 0.13 per cent as of 9.47 am.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals has received an order from the office of the Superintendent of Central Tax and Customs, Ameerpet-I GST range Hyderabad for the period April, 2018 to March, 2019 imposing demand of ₹10,04,943 (Tax ₹4,68,345, interest ₹4,70,687 and penalty of ₹65,911) under Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. The stock traded at ₹312.65 on the NSE, down by 0.27 per cent as of 9.59 am.

Tata Chemicals has received an order from the Office of the Asst Commissioner (ST), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, levying a penalty of ₹30,33,904 under the Central Goods & Service Tax Act (CGST Act) / Tamil Nadu Goods & Service Tax Act (TNGST Act) & Rules framed thereunder. Stock declined 1.63 per cent on the NSE to trade at ₹1,103.70 as of 10.01 am.

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