The equity markets snapped their five-day losing streak and staged a sharp recovery on Wednesday amid gains in shares of heavyweight Reliance Industries and technology stocks. While the Sensex settled 574.35 points or 1.02% higher at 57,037.50, the Nifty-50 ended at 17,136.55, up 177.9 points or 1.05%. However, analysts said the Nifty, which still stays lower than its 200-day simple moving average (SMA) of 17,170.41, is broadly negative and the medium-term trend remains on the downside. If the index manages to surpass its 200-day SMA, the markets could see some upside.
Reliance Industries contributed 231.90 points to the Sensex’s gain on Wednesday and also traded near its 52-week high of Rs 2,751.35.
Sustained selling from foreign portfolio investors, primarily in the blue chip stocks, had dragged the markets down more than 3-4% in the previous five trading sessions – the Sensex plunged nearly 2,984 points.
gThe dominant near-term feature of the markets is the massive FII selling. In a context devoid of positive news, this massive delivery-based selling, particularly in blue chips, is dragging the market down,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services. So far in April, FPIs have sold shares worth $1.2 billion, while the overall selling from these investors in 2022 stands at $15.6 billion, data from NSDL showed.
gNifty will now aim to move above its 200-DMA at the 17,177 mark. It needs to close successively above its 200-DMA at the 17,177 mark to bring bulls back in action. Meanwhile, a close above the 17,621 mark will be an invalidation of Nifty’s medium-term bearish thesis. Until then, caution will continue to be the buzzword for perma-bull,” said Prashanth Tapse, vice president (research), Mehta Equities.
Elsewhere in Asia, the trend was mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Taiwan’s Tsec 50 ended higher by 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite ended lower by 1.35%, while Hang Seng fell 0.4%.
Back home, barring the Nifty metal and banks/financials, all other sectors ended in the green, with auto and IT being the top performers, up 2.2% and 1.1%, respectively. Overall, out of the total 3,510 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,741 declined.
