Will Nifty breach 18000 or are bears knocking on the door? 5 things to know before opening bell

Bulls remain in control on Dalal Street so far, pushing Sensex and Nifty higher. On Wednesday, S&P BSE Sensex added 417 points or 0.70% to regain the 60,000 mark after four months while the broader NSE Nifty 50 index closed at 17,944 levels. Bank Nifty crossed 39,400 while India VIX, the volatility gauge, dropped marginally. Entering Thursday’s trade, the weekly futures & options expiry session, SGX Nifty was trading in the red hinting at a flat to a negative start to the day’s trade. Global cues were weak after Wall Street ended in the red.

Global Watch: On Wall Street, the Tech-heavy NASDAQ index was down 1.25% while the S&P 500 dropped 0.72% and Dow Jones fell 0.50%. Among Asian stock markets Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng, Nikkei 225, TOPIX, KOSPI, and KOSDAQ were all in the red. 

What do the charts say: On the charts, Nifty formed a small positive candle on the daily chart with minor upper and lower shadow, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities. “Technically, this pattern indicates a continuation of upside momentum in the market without any reasonable downward correction from the highs,” he added.

Levels to watch out for: 18,000 is a big supply area for Nifty in Today’s expiry session, said Rahul Sharma, Director & Head – Research, JM Financial. He added that Bank Nifty could see further up-move if it sustains above 39,500. “Support placed at 17900 and 39,200.” Meanwhile, Nagaraj Shetti believes that any lack of strength around 17900-18000 levels in the next 1-2 sessions could pull Nifty below the resistance area in the short term. “On the other side, a decisive move above 18K mark is likely to pull Nifty towards the next upside target of 18600 levels in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 17760 levels,” he said.

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FII and DII trades: Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) have been net buyers of domestic stocks for successive days now. On Wednesday, FIIs pumped in Rs 2,347 crore. Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) have been net sellers, pulling out Rs 510 crore yesterday.

IPO watch: Syrma SGS Technology enters the final day of bidding today. So far the issue, that opened last week, has been subscribed 2.27 times. Retail investors have subscribed their portion 2.66 times while NIIs have bid for their quota 3.58 times and QIB portion has been bid for 0.71 times.