Sensex zooms past 60000; Nifty ends near 17950, next target seen at 18175, here’s what analysts say

BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 ended more than half a per cent up on Wednesday, a day before weekly F&O expiry. BSE Sensex jumped 418 points or 0.7 per cent to end at 60,260. NSE Nifty 50 index gained 117 points or 0.8 per cent to settle at 17,944. Stocks of Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Wipro, Reliance contributed the most to the indices’ gain. On the flip side M&M, Maruti Suzuki, UltraTech Cements, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid, and Titan ended in the red.

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Bulls on Dalal Street kept the momentum going as Sensex zoomed past the psychological 60,000-mark and Nifty inched towards 18000 level on the back of softening inflation and strong FII buying in the current month. While global factors remain hazy, India is seen as a bright spot in today’s challenging times. Technically, the market is consistently forming higher high and higher low series formation, indicating continuation of an uptrend in the near future. The Nifty has also formed a bullish candle on daily charts that also supports the uptrend. However, a quick intraday correction is not ruled out if the index trades below 17850, and below the same it could touch 17700-17680 levels.  On the flip side, above 17850 the first upside target for the index would be 18000 and on further upsurge it could move up to 18175.

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Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities

Nifty has remained above the falling trend line, confirming the continuation of the ongoing bull run. The up trend remains intact as the barometer index has not shown any weakness. The popular momentum oscillator is in a deep overbought zone but has no bearish crossover, suggesting a continuation of bullish momentum. On the higher end, resistance is seen at 18000-18100. On the lower end, support is visible at 17700.

Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives, Kotak Securities

Nifty has staged a strong recovery in the past few weeks. This move has pushed the markets out of the consolidative/corrective phase it was in since the past few months. Any correction in the near term should be used for buying for the medium term uptrend. An extended phase of consolidation is possible before the index attempts to move towards the 18600 mark. IT stocks remain strong while Metals continue to consolidate. Value is seen in select midcap stocks.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

Consistent participation by FIIs is the backbone of the current rally in the domestic market. This reversal in the FII trend is owed to the resilience showcased by the Indian economy even as inflation continues to plague the western markets. Declining commodity and oil prices also instilled confidence in foreign investors. Western markets were weak ahead of the release of the US FOMC meeting minutes.