Ahead of Market: 12 things that will decide stock action today

New Delhi: Asian stock markets were little changed on Thursday morning as investors weighed Federal Reserve minutes that flagged the possibility of a debate on scaling back the central bank's bond purchases. US stocks had closed lower overnight. The S&P 500 fell for a third day, and 10-year Treasury yields jumped to session highs.

At 7 hours (IST), Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 23 points higher signalling a likely gap-up start for Dalal Street.

Let's have a look at the key factors influencing market mood this morning.

US stocks drop after Fed minutes, crypto fall
Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower on Wednesday after minutes from an April Federal Reserve meeting showed participants agreed the US economy remained far from the central bank’s goals, with some considering discussions on tapering its bond buying program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 164.62 points, or 0.48%, to 33,896.04, the S&P 500 lost 12.15 points, or 0.29%, to 4,115.68 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.90 points, or 0.03%, to 13,299.74.

Asian stocks steady
Asian stocks were steady early Thursday as investors weighed Federal Reserve minutes that flagged the possibility of a debate on scaling back asset purchases. Treasury yields and the dollar held an advance. Benchmarks fluctuated in Japan and Australia, and fell in South Korea.

Tech View: Nifty chart hint at buy-on-dips opportunity
Nifty50 on Wednesday formed a Shooting Star candle on the daily chart, which is generally found in an uptrend and suggests a potential trend reversal. Analysts said while technical indicators are positive, a short-term correction cannot be ruled out. They advised investors to ‘buy on dips’. During the day, gains in the index halted near the 78.6 per cent retracement of the February-April decline of 15,160, said Gaurav Ratnaparkhi of Sharekhan. “With this dip, Nifty50 partially filled up a gap in the 15,043-14,938 zone. It has room to completely fill this gap on the downside. Near the lower end of the gap, however, the index is likely to attract fresh buying. So, ‘buy on dips’ is the preferred strategy from a short-term perspective,” he said.

Check out the candlestick formations in the latest trading sessions

ETMarkets.com

F&O: India VIX moves up marginally
India VIX moved up marginally by 0.40% from 19.24 to 19.31 level. The fear gauge needs to hold below 20 levels to extend the bullish momentum. On the options front, maximum Put Open Interest stood at 14,000 level followed by 14,500 while maximum Call OI was seen at 15,000 level followed by 15,500. There was Call writing at strike prices 15,100 and 15,300, while Put writing was seen at strike prices 14,900 and 15,000. Options data suggested a shift in the trading range to 14,700-15,300 zones.

Stocks showing bullish bias
Momentum indicator Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) showed bullish trade setup on the counters of Adani Ports & SEZ, Ambuja Cements, Network 18 Media, Jamna Auto, Tech Mahindra, Godrej Properties, OnMobile Global, Kalyani Steel, Century Plyboards, Mangalam Drugs, Deep Energy Resource, The Ramco Cements, Coral India Finance, Newgen Software Tech, Savita Oil Tech, Radico Khaitan, Vinati Organics, Alkali Metals, Kajaria Ceramics, ADF Foods, L&T Technology Services, Shanthi Gears, Vishal Fabrics, Mindteck (India), Apar Industries, JBF Industries, JK Cement, PSP Projects, Cinevista, Future Supply Chain, Seshasayee Paper and Esab India.

The MACD is known for signalling trend reversals in traded securities or indices. When the MACD crosses above the signal line, it gives a bullish signal, indicating that the price of the security may see an upward movement and vice versa.

Stocks signalling weakness ahead
The MACD showed bearish signs on the counters of Tata Steel, Aarti Industries, Glenmark Pharma, Jindal Saw, PI Industries, Prakash Industries, Ester India, IOL Chemicals, Aarti Drugs, Fineotex Chemical, The Andhra Sugars, Cybertech System, Uflex, Goodluck India, Jubilant Pharmova, Ajanta Pharma, Sudarshan Chemicals, Manaksia Steels, Accelya Solutions, Mahamaya Steel Industries, Palash Securities, Vadilal Industries, Power Mech Projects, Indo National, Eimco Elecon and Nalwa Sons Investments. Bearish crossover on the MACD on these counters indicated that they have just begun their downward journey.

Wednesday's most active stocks in value terms
Tata Motors (Rs 3,776.13 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 2,043.07 crore), SBI (Rs 1,858.33 crore), RIL (Rs 1,504.97 crore), Axis Bank (Rs 1,441.86 crore), UPL (Rs 1,403.68 crore), Adani Enterprises (Rs 1,301.98 crore), Bajaj Finance (Rs 1,271.35 crore), Adani Ports SEZ (Rs 1,221.91 crore) and Coforge (Rs 1,148.22 crore) were among the most active stocks on Dalal Street in value terms. Higher activity on a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.

Wednesday's most active stocks in volume terms
PNB (Shares traded: 15.45 crore), Tata Motors (Shares traded: 11.94 crore), BHEL (Shares traded: 10.53 crore), Reliance Power (Shares traded: 10.06 crore), Vodafone Idea (Shares traded: 8.73 crore), YES Bank (Shares traded: 8.70 crore), Indian Oil Corp. (Shares traded: 7.42 crore), 3i Infotech (Shares traded: 6.96 crore), Bank of Baroda (Shares traded: 5.48 crore) and IOB (Shares traded: 5.47 crore) were among the most traded stocks in the session.

Stocks showing buying interest
CSB Bank, Relaxo Footwear, Prince Pipes, Birla Corp. and Gland Pharma witnessed strong buying interest from market participants as they scaled their fresh 52-week highs on Wednesday, signalling bullish sentiment.

Stocks seeing selling pressure
Best Agrolife, DSJ Communications, Keerti Knowledge and Skills and Suvidhaa Infoserve witnessed a strong selling pressure in and hit their 52-week lows, signalling bearish sentiment on these counters.

Sentiment meter favours bulls
Overall, the market breadth remained in favour of bulls. As many as 282 stocks on the BSE500 index settled the day in the green, while 213 settled the day in the red.

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