Investors are advised to stay cautious and use rallies to build short positions in the Nifty
The Nifty50 logged its biggest losing streak since 2015 on February 19 as it dropped for the eight consecutive days in a row, but managed to close a shade above 10,600.
For Sensex, it was the biggest losing streak since July 2013 when the index fell from July 24 t0 August 2, wiping out nearly 1,000 points.
The last time when Nifty50 fell consecutive for eight straight days was back in March 2015 when the index was trading around 8,600. The index fell from March 18 2015 to March 27 2015, translating in a fall of 344 points.
The only comforting factor was that some buying was seen in the broader market indices. The BSE Midcap and BSE-Smallcap outperformed the benchmark and ended higher by 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
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Amongst the sectoral indices, Realty continued to dominate, gaining 1.7 percent followed by Metal (up 1.4 percent). IT stocks fell for the second consecutive session losing over 2 percent, while Power and Healthcare too witnessed some selling pressure.
Nearly 400 stocks on the BSE hit a fresh 52-week low that includes names like MRF, VST Tillers, Cera Sanitaryware, Wheels India, Prataap Snacks, TTK Healthcare, Natco Pharma, Bharat Forge, Kaveri Seed, Finolex Industries etc. among others.
On the technical charts, Nifty formed a bearish candle that also resembles an inverted hammer kind of pattern on the daily charts. Investors are advised to stay cautious and use rallies to build short positions in the Nifty.
“Bears took control of D-Street in the last hour of the trade. It was certainly not a comforting sign especially when the index was trading well in green in the first half. This time the selling pressure is coming from large-caps,” said Ashish Chaturmohta, Head of Technical and Derivatives at Sanctum Wealth Management.
“Curently, this is sell-on-rise kind of markets for investors. However, the good part is that we are seeing some recovery in the mid and smallcaps. But, selling pressure could intensify in the large-cap stocks,” he concludes.
Top Sensex gainers include names like ONGC, ICICI Bank, and Vedanta, which rose 1-3 percent whereas, on the losing side IndusInd Bank, NTPC and TCS were down by 2-3 percent.
Stocks in news
Shares of Emami rose 14 percent after company promoters divested their stake in the company.
Graphite India shares slipped 2 percent after the company received Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) directions to close the operations at its Whitefield, Bengaluru plant.
Kaveri Seed Company fell around 10 percent and touched a 52-week low of Rs 399 as the company posted a weak set of numbers for the quarter ended December 2018.
Global updates
European indices are trading marginally lower as market participants are awaiting the outcome of the latest round of US-China trade talks.
Asian markets ended mixed on the back of renewed US-China tensions. Shanghai Composite ended marginally higher at 2,755.65 while Hang Seng slipped 0.28 percent to finish at 28,228.13.
Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 percent to close at 21,302.6 and Kospi declined 0.24 percent to close at 2,205.63.
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