Nifty call: Tread with caution, go long if contract moves beyond 10,025 levels

Nifty 50 March futures (10,001) A strong plunge in the US markets in the last session has triggered a global sell-off today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 724 points or 2.9 per cent to close at 23,957 and the S&P 500 slumped 2.5 per cent to end at 2,643 levels on Thursday. Taking cues from this, Asian stocks opened the day with a gap-down and continued to decline. The Nikkei 225 has tumbled 974 points or 4.5 per cent to 20,617 levels and the Hang Seng index has plummeted 978 points or 3 per cent to 30,092 levels.

In line with the global markets, the Nifty and the Sensex began the session with a gap-down open, but remain comparatively resilient when compared with their global peers, with just about 1.3 per cent decline. Significant supports are holding the benchmark indices from a further fall.

The Nifty March month futures contract also commenced the session with a huge gap-down open at 9,999.6. After marking an intra-day high at 10,021, the contract resumed its downtrend and continued to decline. However, the contract has rebounded after marking an intra-day low at 9,960 levels.

Any short-covering in the second half of the trading session can push the contract higher. Traders with a short-term perspective should tread with caution and consider initiating fresh long positions only if the contract moves beyond 10,025 levels with a fixed stop-loss. The contract can witness a corrective rally to 10,050 and 10,075 levels. Having said that, if the contract fails to move beyond 10,025, it can keep the selling pressure intact and drag it down to 9,970 and 9,950 levels. A further decline below 9,970 can pull the contract to 9,950 and 9,925 levels.

Strategy: Tread with caution and consider initiating fresh long positions only if the contract moves beyond 10,025 levels with a fixed stop-loss.

Supports: 9,970 and 9,950

Resistances: 10,025 and 10,050