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

NEW DELHI: While Wall Street's main indices retreated from all-time highs, Asian stocks had a muted opening this morning. All eyes are now on Federal Reserve's statement at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

At 7 hours (IST), Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 20 points lower signalling a likely gap-down start for Dalal Street.

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

US stocks take a breather
Wall Street's main indices closed lower on Tuesday as data showing stronger inflation and weaker U.S. retail sales in May spooked already-jittery investors awaiting the results of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94.42 points, or 0.27%, to 34,299.33, the S&P 500 lost 8.56 points, or 0.20%, to 4,246.59 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 101.29 points, or 0.71%, to 14,072.86.

Muted trading in Asian markets
Asian stocks saw muted trading Wednesday after their U.S. peers retreated from all-time highs, with investors awaiting a policy decision from the Federal Reserve. Crude oil traded at the highest since 2018. Shares were modestly higher in Japan and Australia, while South Korean stocks led gains. Hong Kong and Chinese equities slipped. U.S. futures were little changed.

Tech View: Nifty forms indecisive Doji
Nifty50 on Tuesday formed a 'Doji' candle on the daily chart, suggesting indecisiveness among traders. Analysts said the index failed to capitalise on a small gap-up start and traded in a narrow range throughout the day. They see the possibility of limited upside in Nifty towards the 16,000-16,050 zone, on a breach above the 15,900 level. Mazhar Mohammad of Chartviewindia.in said the technical picture on the oscillator front, across time frames, looks extremely stretched.

Check out the candlestick formations in the latest trading sessions

ETMarkets.com

F&O: Low VIX helping bullish bias
India VIX fell 0.78% from 14.71 to the 14.60 level. The fear gauge is gradually falling since the last six weeks and has come to the levels last seen in February 2020. Lower volatility indicates a bullish market bias and suggests every small decline could get bought into in this market. On the options front, maximum Put open interest stood at 15,500 level followed by 15,000 while maximum Call OI was seen at 16,000 followed by 16,500 levels. Minor Call writing was seen at strike prices 16,300 and 16,200 while there was minor Put writing at 15,700 and then 15,800 levels. Options data suggested an immediate trading range between 15,600 and 16,000 levels.

Stocks showing bullish bias
Momentum indicator Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) showed bullish trade setup on the counters of GMR Infrastructure, Rain Industries, UCO Bank, Zee Media Corp, HBL Power Systems, Marico, Vardhman Special, KEI Industries, Sanghvi Movers, Mangalam Drugs, Gulshan Polyols, Hitech Corporation, Sagar Cements, Igarashi Motors, Ashiana Housing, Sasken Technologies, Revathi Equipment, Sakar Healthcare, 63 Moons Technologies, GSS Infotech, Swaraj Engines, TVS Srichakra, Esab India and Abbott 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 Adani Enterprises, Central Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Tata Motors, Jindal Saw, L&T, Sun Pharma Advanced, Adani Total Gas, Thomas Cook, Hindustan Zinc, Inox Leisure, Hero MotoCorp, J B Chemicals & Pharma, Balaji Telefilms, BEML, Trent, Eros International, CSB Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Cybertech System, Mahindra CIE Auto, Kirloskar Oil Engine, Anjani Portland, Swelect Energy Systems, Umang Dairies, Phoenix Mills, Gulf Oil Lubricants, Shoppers Stop, Vidhi Specialty Food, Cords Cable Industries, INEOS Styrolution, Muthoot Capital, IIFL Wealth Management, Vadilal Industries, Centum Electronics, TTK Prestige, The Grob Tea Company, and 3M India. Bearish crossover on the MACD on these counters indicated that they have just begun their downward journey.

Tuesday's most active stocks in value terms
Adani Ports SEZ (Rs 3,488.68 crore), Adani Enterprises (Rs 3,405.51 crore), RIL (Rs 1,580.86 crore), Tata Motors (Rs 1,265.09 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 1,148.98 crore), BHEL (Rs 1,107.03 crore), Indiabulls Housing Finance (Rs 1,081.47 crore), Zee Enterprises (Rs 1,004.09 crore), Bajaj Finance (Rs 942.73 crore) and Infosys (Rs 794.15 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.

Tuesday's most active stocks in volume terms
BHEL (Shares traded: 15.77 crore), GMR Infra (Shares traded: 15.75 crore), Vodafone Idea (Shares traded: 8.77 crore), JP Associates (Shares traded: 8.22 crore), Future Consumer (Shares traded: 8.19 crore), Suzlon Energy (Shares traded: 7.86 crore), YES Bank (Shares traded: 7.69 crore), PNB (Shares traded: 7.28 crore), SAIL (Shares traded: 5.41 crore) and Indian Railway Finance Corporation (Shares traded: 5.41 crore) were among the most traded stocks in the session.

Stocks showing buying interest
GMR Infra, KEI Industries, Rain Industries, Gujarat Gas and MRPL witnessed strong buying interest from market participants as they scaled their fresh 52-week highs, signalling bullish sentiment.

Stocks seeing selling pressure
Arihant Capital Markets, Vikas EcoTech RE and Vineet Laboratories witnessed strong selling pressure and hit their 52-week lows, signalling bearish sentiment on these counters.

Sentiment meter favours bulls
Overall, the market breadth remained in favour of the bulls. As many as 277 stocks on the BSE500 index settled the day in the green, while 217 settled the day in the red.

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