Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide D-St action on Friday

Riding high on banks and IT stocks, headline indices Sensex and Nifty ended over a per cent higher on Thursday. Metal stocks were under pressure while the PSU Bank index ended as the top sectoral gainer.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse:

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking, said Nifty has again reached the upper band of the prevailing consolidation range (17,300-17,800) and a decisive breakout would fuel the next leg of the up move towards the 18,100+ zone.

Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel One, expects Nifty to continue this northward move towards 17,900-18,000 and then beyond the 18,000 mark. “On the flip side, if there is no aberration globally, 17,700-17,600 should now act as immediate support.”

That said, here’s a look at what some key indicators are suggesting for Friday’s action:

Stocks fall on Wall Street
Stocks fell in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday, knocking out some of the gains from a day earlier but keeping the market on track to break a three-week losing streak.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1% as of 9:56 a.m. Eastern. The benchmark index is holding on to a 1.3% gain for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58 points, or 0.2%, to 31,493 and the Nasdaq fell 0.1%.

European shares dip after record ECB hike
European stocks edged lower on Thursday after the European Central Bank delivered its biggest-ever interest rate hike in the clearest hawkish sign yet to fight against inflation, while shares of banks surged.

The ECB raised its benchmark lending rate by 75 basis points, in a major step to fast-track the transition from the highly accommodative levels towards levels that can help normalize inflation to the central bank's 2% medium-term target.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.35% in mid-afternoon trade, with all major bourses trading lower.

Tech View: Small bullish candle
Nifty50 made strong gains and closed near the psychological mark of 17,800 level. After a gap-up start, the index ended up forming a small bullish candle with a long lower wick, suggesting intraday selling was bought into. Analysts said a follow-up buying might help gauge the strength of the up move.

Stocks showing bullish bias
Momentum indicator Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) showed a bullish trade setup on the counters of Aarti Drugs, Infibeam Avenues, Metropolis Health, IIFL Wealth and Nuvoco Vistas.

The MACD is known for signaling 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 Marico, MOIL, Max Financial, Sun TV and Radico Khaitan.

A bearish crossover on the MACD on these counters indicated that they have just begun their downward journey.

Most active stocks in value terms
ICICI Bank (Rs 1,091 crore), Axis Bank (Rs 1,035 crore), Shree Cements (Rs 895 crore), Tata Motors (Rs 860 crore), RIL (Rs 841 crore), and HDFC Bank (Rs 833 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity on a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms
Tata Steel (Shares traded: 7.1 crore), Tata Motors (Shares traded: 1.9 crore), ONGC (Shares traded: 1.5 crore), Axis Bank (Shares traded: 1.3 crore), SBI (Shares traded: 1.2 crore) and ICICI Bank (Shares traded: 1.2 crore) were among the most traded stocks in the session on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest
Shares of ICICI Bank, M&M, ITC, Coal India and SBI Life witnessed strong buying interest from market participants as they scaled their fresh 52-week highs, signalling bullish sentiment.

Stocks seeing selling pressure
Shares of Natco Pharma and Sanofi India were among those that witnessed strong selling pressure and hit their 52-week lows, signalling bearish sentiment on the counters.

Sentiment meter favours bulls
Overall, market breadth favoured winners as 2,042 stocks ended in the green, while 1,437 names settled with cuts.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)