Sensex, Nifty tank to end deep in red; charts suggest further weakness ahead for Dalal Street

Domestic equity markets saw the bears assert control on Dalal Street today. S&P BSE Sensex plunged 871 points to end at 49,180 points while the 50-stock NSE Nifty closed at 14,549. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, along with banking stock were the main contributor to the massive fall registered by the headline indices. Only Asian Paints and Powergrid corporation, of the 30 Sensex constituents closed with gains. Bank Nifty nose-dived 2.6% to end at 33,293. Nifty Pharma was the only sectoral index to close with gains. India VIX leapt 8% to close above 22 levels.

Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities-

“The breadth of the market was extremely poor. About two-thirds of the listed stocks were down as well as all sectoral indices closed in negative territory. The Nifty / Sensex closed lower at 14549/49180. Tomorrow ahead of the March 2021 F&O expiry the market is likely to be in turmoil phase and the Nifty / Sensex may fall to 14350/48580 to 14250/48300 levels. The focus should be on Pharmaceuticals and Technology companies. On the higher side, 14650/49600 and 14700/49800 would be major hurdles.”

Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments –

“The support range of 14,750 was disrespected and we dropped over 200 points once that level broke. Keeping a stop loss at 14,900, traders can target 14,350-14,400 as a potential target for the index. Until we do not get past 14,900, the short to medium-term trend remains bearish.”

Abhishek Chinchalkar, CMT Charterholder and Head of Education, FYERS –

“Today’s selloff suggests that the recovery in Nifty from Friday’s low has possibly ended. The daily MACD indicator fell into negative territory today for the first time in 6-months. Furthermore, Nifty also closed below the daily upper Ichimoku cloud for the first time in 6-months. Both these factors indicate that the shorter-term momentum of Nifty has turned bearish. Based on these, we expect short-term selling pressure to persist until the index is below yesterday’s high of 14,878. On the downside, we could see the index testing 14,350 soon, break below which is likely to trigger further correction towards 14,000.”

Manish Shah, Founder, Niftytrigers –

“Nifty traded sharply lower for the week as the anticipated end of expiry bounce failed to materialize. The Asian markets are culprits in concert as the entire South Asian markets have traded below their supports. Clues point out that the range between 15430-14550 seems to be a distribution pattern. If Nifty breaks a and holds below the support at 14450, there could be a decline towards 13900-14000. Guess it is time to tuck in profits and be in a watchful mode. On a longer-term basis Nifty need to move above the 15350 if there are hopes of a sustained rally.”

Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking –

“The bears took charge in today’s session as the Nifty index ended with a sharp cut of nearly 2%. Though we have not seen any major correction in the benchmark yet, the uneasiness is certainly increasing with the rapid rise in the COVID cases. Besides, global cues are also mixed. We were hoping for some respite from the banking front but it failed to build on the previous session’s gain. Put together, indications are now pointing towards further slide in the index while volatility is likely to remain high due to the scheduled expiry of March month contracts. We reiterate our bearish yet cautious view and suggest maintaining positions on both sides.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services –

“Indian market witnessed across-the-board selling amidst high volatility owing to weak global cues and spike in Covid cases. All sectors barring pharma witnessed selling as second and third wave infections in India and Europe, respectively, are bound to hamper economic recovery. Reports of a potential tax hike in the US also impacted the market sentiment.”