Nifty, Sensex Open Flat, Markets Make Pause After Rally Last Week

New Delhi: Indian stock markets started the second week of December with a pause as both indices opened with a marginal dip on Monday. The Nifty 50 index opened at 24,633.90 points with a decline of 43.90 or 0.18 per cent, while the BSE Sensex index opened at 81,602.58 with a dip of 106.54 or 0.13 per cent.

Experts highlighted that markets have recovered around 50 per cent from the October and November fall; however, now the markets will remain in a consolidated position before marching towards the rally. Ajay Baggga, Banking and Market Expert told ANI "Indian markets have recovered more than 50 per cent of their post September fall. 

We expect markets to consolidate for some time and then resume their uptrend. Seasonality and flows are in favour of a market advance. Global events this week include the US CPI print which is expected to be in line with the last month's advance rate. 

Overall the markets are factoring in a 25 bps rate cut by the US Fed next week on the 18th". In the sectoral indices on NSE, a mixed trend was visible during the opening session, with Nifty BANK, Nifty Financial, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty surging, while other sectors, including Nifty IT, declined marginally. In the Nifty 50 list of stocks, 22 shares opened with gains, while 28 declined at the time of filing this report.

"The nifty's drop on Friday traced a small-sized bar contained within Thursday's long-range, creating a so-called "inside day". This represents volatility compression but since volatility is cyclical, one should expect a trending move soon. At current prices, the nifty is facing resistance from the 50- and 100-day moving averages and an Ichimoku hurdle, so the 24800 - 24900 area is formidable. 

Supports lie at 24,445 and 24,360" said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities.L&T, Bajaj Finance, SBI Life, HDFC Bank, and Shriram Finance emerged as the top gainers in Nifty 50 at the opening, while Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consumer, and Britannia opened as the top losers in Nifty 50. Last week, foreign investors made a strong comeback to Indian equity markets, with a net purchase of over Rs 24,400 crore in the first week of December.

According to data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) invested Rs 24,453 crore in equities between December 2 and December 6. The biggest single-day inflow during the week was on Friday, December 6, when FPIs bought equities worth Rs 9,489 crore, marking their highest investment for the week.

"Markets are poised for a breakout in the days to come as we have seen Nifty Breaking back to back Crucial Resistance. Nifty 50's outperformance this week, surging by +546 points, indicates a strong reversal and bullish uptrend in the sector. This week, Nifty 50 started well with back-to-back bullish candles, strongly indicating gaining strength. Buyer interest towards the sector has the potential to push prices higher" said Sunil Gurjar (CMT, CFTe), SEBI Registered Research Analyst, Founder- Alphamojo Financial Services Pvt Ltd.

In other Asian markets, South Korea's KOSPI index continued to decline amid political uncertainty. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 0.33 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 index was up by 0.27 per cent, while the Taiwan Weighted index also gained 0.10 per cent.