Technical View: Nifty forms Hammer pattern, sideways trend seen with negative bias

The Nifty50 traded lower for major part of the day, though recovered losses in last couple of hours of trade to close flat on May 15 after second tranche of the Rs 20 lakh crore fiscal package.

These measures failed to lift the mood of the market that has been worried due to rising new infections and lacklustre earnings commentary.

The index recovered from day's low of 9,050 levels where the buying started taking place and closed below 9,150, forming small bodied red candle which resembles a Hammer kind of pattern on daily charts. It fell 1.2 percent for the week and formed bearish candle on the weekly scale for second consecutive week.

The Hammer is a bullish reversal pattern formed after a decline. A hammer consists of no upper shadow, a small body, and long lower shadow. The long lower shadow of signifies that the stock tested its support, where demand was located and then bounced back.

Experts feel the sideways trade with a negative bias is expected to be seen in coming days and if the index breaks Friday's low of 9,050 then there could be further selling pressure.

The Nifty50 opened higher at 9,182.40, which was also an intraday high, but immediately slipped into red and hit a day's low of 9,050 in late morning deals. The index gradually recouped majority of losses in afternoon and settled at 9,136.85, down 5.90 points.

"This minor recovery itself shall not be construed as a sign of strength unless Nifty strongly registers a close above 9,300 levels. Meanwhile, the near term trend shall continue to remain sideways in a range of 9,350 – 9,043 levels but with a negative bias," Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist – Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in told Moneycontrol.

Directional move in Nifty shall be expected once a breakout is witnessed in either of the directions, he said.

Mazhar Mohammad feels considering two strong gap-down openings in the last couple of sessions with bearish reversal formations the possibility of an upside breakout may remain low, while the breach of 9,000 on closing basis shall set the tone in favour of bears with a sharp correction.

For time being, he advised traders to remain neutral on the long side but fresh shorts shall be considered on a close below 9,050 levels.

Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst of Deen Dayal Investments also feels 9,050 could be psychological support for investors and traders because it is the last day of the trading week and people would prefer evaluating their stand on Monday.

"A break of 9,040 would lead to a further downside which could even take this market to 8,750-8,800 levels, while 9,400-9,450 continues to remain in the resistance zone," he said.

Overall sectors, barring Metal, remained in negative territory, with Bank Nifty opening and trading below 19,000 levels throughout session. The index closed at 18,834, down 234.50 points or 1.23 percent and formed bearish candle on daily as well as weekly charts.

Date: May 19