Indian equity indices opened Monday’s trading session on a lower note. The NSE Nifty 50 opened 75 points lower and breached 24,800, an important level. The BSE Sensex opened 250 points lower at 81,200.
Similarly, Bank Nifty opened 240 points or 0.43% lower at 56,286 on the back of poor performance of Kotak Mahindra Bank on the NIM front. In line with the benchmarks, the small and midcap stocks opened in the red. The Nifty Midcap fell 170 points to 57,836.
“Negative news and triggers have pushed the Nifty to a one-month low, and market sentiments continue to be unfavourable. While trade deals with Japan and the EU, thought to be difficult initially, have happened, the much-expected India-US trade deal is still hanging fire. This has impacted market sentiments. The sharp cut in the IT index has been dragging the market down, and there is no respite in this in view of the 2% cut in its global workforce announced by TCS. However, midcap IT names hold promise in view of their strong growth prospects,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
“Technically, on weekly charts, it has formed a bearish candle, and on daily charts, it is holding a lower top formation, which is largely negative. Additionally, it breached the 50-day SMA (Simple Moving Average), a crucial support zone, and is currently trading comfortably below it. We believe that as long as the market remains below 25,000, weak sentiment is likely to continue. On the downside, the correction wave may extend to 24,700-24,750,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities.
FII selling of Rs 13,552 crores in the cash market last week has added to the weakness in the market. Yet another concern is the Q1 results, which are not yet indicating any major positive surprises, added Vijayakumar.
Let’s take a look at the key factors to watch out for today’s trading session
Early gainers and laggards
In early trade, among the Nifty 50, top gainers at this hour were Tata Motors, Shriram Finance, Grasim Industries, Bajaj Auto, and Bajaj Finserv, among other stocks. On the flip side, the key laggards in the Nifty 50 pack included Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and Bajaj Finance.
Major movers on Monday
The stocks that remained under pressure included Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro, which were the major movers in the morning trade.