The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower in the holiday curtailed week which ended on April 13. The Sensex and Nifty fell nearly 2 per cent each in the three-day trading week with both the benchmarks declining in all the three sessions. Markets will remain closed on Thursday and Friday on accounts of Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday respectively.
"Nifty 50 closed the week on a negative note taking cues from global indices and has closed just around its immediate support level of 17,450. On a weekly chart, the index has formed an evening star candlestick pattern, indicating bearishness. After the highs of October 2021, a lower top lower bottom pattern has been forming on the benchmark index. The broader indices also have a similar trend and the overall structure of the market has been shifting to the bearish side," said Yesha Shah, head of equity research at Samco Securities
"A decisive fall below 17,450 levels can lead to a retest of 16,900 zone. Thus, traders should maintain a mild bearish outlook going into the next week. A move above the immediate resistance level of 17,850 can negate the bearish outlook," he said.
Going ahead market participants will closely watch corporate earnings going ahead, the country's second largest IT company Infosys reported March quarter and financial year 2022 earnings after market hours on Friday and the country's largest private lender HDFC Bank will report its March quarter and finacial year 2022 earnings on Saturday.
"As earnings season gathers pace, D-street will be eyeing quarterly results to gauge the future trajectory of market. BFSI as well as IT companies will be in limelight as market players decode results and management commentary of a slew of companies in these sectors. As no major global or domestic macroeconomic events are expected next week, stock-specific movements will be more pronounced and whipsaw movements can be witnessed as a result of earnings hits and misses. Therefore, instead of basing investment actions solely on quarterly performance, investors should consider long-term potential of their investee companies and stay put in resilient ones," Shah added.
On the sectoral front, selling pressure was visible across the board with IT shares being the worst performers. The gauge of IT stocks on the NSE - Nifty IT index dropped nearly 3 per cent despite TCS reporting strong March quarter earnings.
"TCS reported strong performance in 4QFY22 driven by strong growth across geographies (particularly in NA) and strong deal wins. TCS is likely to be one of the key beneficiaries of medium-term uptrend in technology spending. We expect TCS to gain market share on the back of vendor consolidation and captive monetization efforts. We remain positive on stock given its strong revenue growth, elevated EBIT margin and industry leading return ratios," said Mitul Shah, head of research at Reliance Securities.
Nifty Realty, Metal, Auto, PSU Bank and Financial Services indices also fell between 1.4-2.2 per cent.
On the primary market front, Hariom Pipe Industries made a blockbuster stock market debut the stock jumped over 40 per cent to list Rs 220 on the National Stock Exchange compared with its issue price of Rs 153 per shares. Whereas, Veranda Learning Solutions made a mixed debut on Monday, it got listed at 15 per cent premium on BSE, against the issue price of Rs 137.
In contrast, at the NSE, it opened at Rs 125, a discount of 8.75 per cent. It hit a high of Rs 131.25 and a low of Rs 125.
