Nifty Ends Weekly Expiry on Strong Note; WPI Inflation Rises to 7.4% in March

Nifty, +0.5%; Sensex, +0.5%; Nifty Midcap, +0.1%; Nifty Smallcap, -0.2%; Model Portfolio, +0.04%

Market Pulse: Downtrend

Nifty started the session on a flat note but was down more than 170 points in the first half of the day. Strong buying in the second half helped Nifty pare its losses and end 0.5% higher. Hence, for the second consecutive session, Nifty ended near its day’s high, which is a good sign. Today’s volume was slightly lower than the previous session. Of Nifty50 stocks, 56% closed in the green, led by Tata Consultancy Svs. (+3.7%) and Wipro (Nse) (+2.8%).

On the sectoral front, it was a mixed reaction. Nifty Pharma (+1.4%) and Metal (+1.4%) advanced the most, followed by Nifty Fin Services (+1.2%). On the flip side, Nifty Auto (-1.3%) and PSU Bank (-1.3%) were the major decliners. The advance-decline ratio was in favor of decliners. Of the 2,253 stocks traded, 761 advanced, 1,117 declined, and the rest remained unchanged.

Market Status Overview

- We moved the market to a Downtrend on Monday as Nifty breached its 50-DMA on higher volume, distribution day count increased to seven, and many leading stocks failed to hold their logical support levels.

- Today’s session will be considered Day 2 of an attempted rally as Nifty traded above yesterday’s low of (14,249). We need one more such session to change the market status to a Rally Attempt.

- From there, we would prefer to see a follow-through day before shifting the market back to a Confirmed Uptrend. Should this occur, the focus will be on ideas breaking out of early-stage base patterns and showing the best relative strength, with good accumulation.