Market flat amid weak Asian cues; positive bias intact as long as Nifty stays above 22,200

Equity benchmarks were flat-to-negative on March 11 morning amid weak Asian cues. Analysts, however, believe that the positive bias will be in intact as long as the Nifty holds above 22,200.

The Sensex and the Nifty were flat at 74,062 and 22,483. Against the ongoing profit-booking, fear gauge India VIX spiked over 4 percent to trade around 14 level.

Follow our live blog for all the market action

Prashant Sawant, Founder, Catalyst Wealth, said profit-booking is normal in a bullish market and there is no negative reversal for now. "As long as Nifty holds above 22,200, we believe investors can buy every dip. The next resistance level to track for Nifty is 22,650," he told Moneycontrol.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, too, believed that the undertone of markets is bullish as it has been scaling new highs consistently. "We recommend investors to remain invested in equities. Large caps are likely to witness buy on every dip, but broader markets are expected to see headwinds," he added.

Meanwhile, broader markets were mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.2 percent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 0.4 percent. Vijayakumar of Geojit Financial Services expects the underperformance of smallcap space to continue in the near-term.

"Since restraint imposed by some mutual funds by stopping lump sum investment into their small cap schemes has failed to stem the flow of funds into the over-valued small -cap segment, SEBI has stepped in with regulatory action asking the mutual funds to do stress tests in their mid and small cap schemes. More follow up actions are likely from the regulator to prevent a bubble formation in the broader market and its inevitable burst," he added.

Sectorally, Nifty Realty, PSU Bank, and Pharma indices managed to gain up to 0.9 percent, while Nifty Media and Bank Nifty declined up to 0.6 percent.

Asia-Pacific markets subdued

Majority of Asia-Pacific markets were muted this morning, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index leading the losses by declining over 2 percent. Topix, too, was down by 2 percent.

South Korea's Kospi also started the week down by 0.8 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 percent. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index bucked the trend and gained 1.5 percent and Chinese CSI 300 rose 0.3 percent.

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.