Aided by continued selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FII), domestic markets have fallen nearly 10% since April this year. Now, after a strong correction, analysts at ICICI Direct believe that the indices could reverse the downtrend. “We feel current recovery for the Nifty may extend towards 17000. However, on the downside, early low of March levels of 15600 are expected to remain very crucial,” ICICI Direct said in a note. It added that the index is expected to see positive sentiments re-emerge once it crosses 16400. Currently, Nifty 50 is placed between 16100-16200.
So far this year, FIIs have pulled out more than $22 billion from domestic markets, which is close to the $27 billion that was pushed into Indian markets in 2020 and 2021 combined. “Despite outflows, Indian equities are still one of the best-performing markets with YTD gains of almost 10%,” ICICI Direct said. The brokerage firm has also noted that short-covering in the Futures & Options market could aid Nifty’s up-move in the coming weeks. “We believe short-covering play should take the index towards 16800-17000 in coming weeks,” they said while adding that downside could be limited.
Analysts noted that amid the recent downtrend, energy and auto stocks outperformed significantly. Going further, the trend is expected to continue and hence ICICI Direct has picked two stocks from these sectors that they believe could help investors pocket healthy returns over the next 12 months.
Petronet LNG: Buy
Target: Rs 260 | Stop loss: Rs 200
Upside: 15%
Shares of the company opened at Rs 225 per share on Tuesday morning. ICICI Direct recommends buying the stock in Rs 218-224 per share range.
“Petronet LNG has been finding important support near Rs 200 levels since 2017 on multiple occasions and has exhibited strong reversals. Due to resilience in gas stocks, the stock has surpassed the major hurdle of Rs 220 levels, which provides a fresh entry opportunity from a medium-term perspective,” ICICI Direct said in a note. Petronet LNG’s share price is up 3.77% so far this year. During the current fall in domestic markets, Petronet LNG saw a constant pick-up in delivery volumes. The target price suggests an upside of 15% from today’s opening.
Mahindra & Mahindra: Buy
Target: Rs 1045 | Stop loss: Rs 808
Upside: 10%
Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) shares opened for trade at Rs 949 per share. ICICI Direct recommends buying the stock in the range of Rs 885-905 with a stop loss of Rs 808 per share.
“Auto stocks have been one of the biggest outperformers in the last two months’ decline. M&M is one of the few stocks in the heavyweight space, which is trading near lifetime high levels. We believe the stock is in a major uptrend and any declines remain a buying opportunity,” the note said. The target price suggests an upside of 10%.
