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

NEW DELHI: Even as the S&P 500 ended at a record closing high last night, Asian stock markets were under pressure over the recent spread of the delta variant. At 7:30 hours (IST), Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 6 points lower signalling a likely muted start for Dalal Street.

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

S&P 500 notches fifth straight record closing high
The S&P 500 nabbed its fifth straight record closing high on Wednesday as investors ended the month and the quarter by largely shrugging off positive economic data and looking toward Friday's highly anticipated employment report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 210.22 points, or 0.61%, to 34,502.51, the S&P 500 gained 5.7 points, or 0.13%, to 4,297.5 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 24.38 points, or 0.17%, to 14,503.95.

Asian stocks edge lower
Asian stocks slipped Thursday amid a firmer dollar as traders weighed signs that Covid-19 flareups are hampering some of the region’s manufacturing and looked ahead to a U.S. payrolls report. Japan and China were among the major equity markets posting modest losses. Purchasing managers’ indexes suggested curbs imposed to fight the virus had sapped output in parts of Asia.

Tech View: Nifty slips below 20-DMA
The index managed to defend its immediate support at 15,700, but slipped below the 20-day simple moving average on a closing basis. The 15,700 level may keep offering some support to the index, analysts said. They see resistance for Nifty50 at 15,840 level.

Check out the candlestick formations in the latest trading sessions

F&O: Nifty's immediate range seen at 15,600-15,900 levels
India VIX moved up 0.35% from 13 to 13.04 level. The fear gauge failed to move above 16-16.50 zone in the last three weeks and hovered near its lowest point of last 17 months. Lower volatility indicated an overall bullish market bias, but a small bounce in VIX can give some volatile cues to the market.

Stocks showing bullish bias
Momentum indicator Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) showed bullish trade setup on the counters of Spicejet, PNC Infratech, KNR Constructions, Uflex, Zee Media Corp, Time Technoplast, Camlin Fine Sciences, Sun Pharma, Aditya Birla Fashion, KPIT Technologies, Zensar Technologies, Deepak Nitrite, Dilip Buildcon, Apex Frozen Foods, Sumit Woods, Emami, Triveni Turbine, SBI Life Insurance, STL Global, Hexa Tradex, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Emami Realty, Can Fin Homes, Morarjee Textiles, Suven Pharmaceutical, Dalmia Bharat, Power Mech Projects, Prime Securities, Neogen Chemicals, Ceat, Ipca Laboratorie, Aarti Surfactants, TTK Healthcare, Bharat Rasayan, Honeywell Automation, TTK Prestige, Asian Hotels (West), Cera Sanitaryware and Lakshmi Machines.

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 Himadri Speciality, HUDCO, Axis Bank, IFCI, Rolta India, HCL Technologies, Gujarat Gas, Action Construction, Aries Agro, Nila Spaces, Setco Automotive, Coromandel International, Prestige Estates, , Kansai Nerolac Paint, Tilaknagar Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Relaxo Footwears, CARE Ratings, Dixon Technologies, Minda Industries, Vardhman Acrylics, Prataap Snacks, Deccan Cements, Mangalam Cement, 5Paisa Capital, Sundaram Finance, Sheela Foam and Bafna Pharmaceutical. 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
RIL (Rs 1,922.49 crore), Kotak Bank (Rs 1,513.70 crore), Infosys (Rs 958.75 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 948.88 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 907.03 crore), Happiest Minds (Rs 841.59 crore), SBI (Rs 773.85 crore), Bajaj Finance (Rs 744.30 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 726.42 crore) and Cipla (Rs 705.07 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
Vodafone Idea (Shares traded: 20.21 crore), Reliance Comm (Shares traded: 13.63 crore), YES Bank (Shares traded: 10.64 crore), JP Power (Shares traded: 9.89 crore), Central Bank (Shares traded: 9.87 crore), IOB (Shares traded: 8.96 crore), PNB (Shares traded: 8.82 crore), IDFC First Bank (Shares traded: 8.36 crore), GMR Infra (Shares traded: 6.98 crore) and Suzlon Energy (Shares traded: 5.81 crore) were among the most traded stocks in the session.

Stocks showing buying interest
Bharat Rasayan, PNC Infratech, ISGEC Heavy Engineering, IOB and Central Bank witnessed strong buying interest from market participants as they scaled their fresh 52-week highs, signalling bullish sentiment.

Stocks seeing selling pressure
Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Shyam Metalics and Energy and Uttam Galva Steels witnessed strong selling pressure and hit their 52-week lows, signalling bearish sentiment on these counters.

Sentiment meter favours bears
Overall, the market breadth remained in favour of the bears. As many as 234 stocks on the BSE500 index settled the day in the green, while 265 settled the day in the red.

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