Mid-day Mood | Sensex, Nifty snap 4-day winning streak to trade lower, IT stocks under pressure

The Sensex and the Nifty were trading lower around noon on March 5, snapping a four-day winning streak on subdued global cues and selling in IT names.

Around noon, the Sensex was down 365.97 points, or 0.50 percent, at 73,506.32, and the Nifty was down 102.90 points, or 0.46 percent, at 22,302.70. About 1,107 shares advanced, 2,089 declined and 73 shares were trading unchanged.

The broader indices were also under pressure. The BSE Midcap index was down 0.1 percent and the smallcap index fell 0.5 percent.

US markets ended lower on March 4, backing away from record highs even as the treasury yields ticked higher. Investors are now awaiting key job data and the Federal Reserve chair's testimony before lawmakers from March 6-7. These events will offer clues to the US central bank’s interest rate plans for this year.

At home, Tata Motors stock zoomed 4 percent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,027 on bullish brokerage commentary after the automaker decided to spin off its passenger vehicle (PV) and commercial vehicle (CV) businesses into two separate entities.

Sectoral Trends

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index was down 1.5 percent after brokerage CLSA downgraded TCS and HCL and reiterated its "sell" call on Wipro and LTIMindtree. Nifty media, too, was trading 1.5 percent lower from the previous day.

While the 2024 growth outlook on the sector remains "weak at best", this is not being reflected in valuations of the stocks, CLSA analysts have said.

Nifty PSU bank and Auto were the top sectoral gainers.

Fundamental View

"With the Nifty showing strong technical support at 22,050, the market is buoyed by bullish sentiments, although upcoming events like Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony and US Nonfarm payrolls data could influence future directions," said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president of research at Mehta Equities.

"Trading strategies recommend buying positions in Nifty, Bank Nifty, and selected stocks such as NTPC, Coal India, NMDC, and Adani Enterprises, highlighting a blend of value and momentum plays for investors amid a cautiously optimistic outlook," he said.

Technical View

On the levels front, 22,300-22,250 is expected to provide support against a downturn followed by strong support of the "ascending triangle" formation breakout around 22,150 on an immediate basis, Sameet Chavan, the head of technical and derivative research at Angel One said.

Though identifying key resistance levels is challenging, considering the reciprocal retracements, levels around 22,500 and 22,630 can be the immediate resistance, he said.

Key Nifty gainers

Tata Motors, UPL, Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI and Bajaj Auto

Key Nifty losers

TCS, Infosys, LTIMindtree, JSW Steel, and SBI Life Insurance

Key Sensex gainers

Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI, Bharti Airtel, and NTPC

Key Sensex losers

TCS, Infosys, JSW Steel, Nestle India, and HCL Tech

Stock moves

Infibeam Avenues: Shares rallied over 8 percent a day after the AI-powered fintech company received the final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a payment aggregator .

NBCC: Shares gained 2 percent in early trade after the company's subsidiary received Rs 92-crore order.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.