The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 295.30 points or 1.6% to 18,211.52. The index rose 184.15 points at the day's high of 18,690.97 in morning trade, its highest level since 28 January 2011. The Sensex fell 347 points at the day's low of 18,159.82 in late trade. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 87.50 points or 1.58% to 5,458.95. The Nifty hit high of 5,599.25 in early trade, its highest level since 28 January 2011. The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.98% and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 2.35%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth is weak in contrast with a strong breadth earlier in the day. On BSE, 2,140 shares declined while 776 shares advanced and total of 64 shares remained unchanged. Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 25 declined while the rest rose. BSE clocked turnover of Rs. 3710 crore higher than Rs. 3314.22 core on Thursday, 17 February 2011.
VIEWS FROM SOME BROKING HOUSES:
FORTUNE FINANCIAL (Abhijit Chakraborty): “Pre-budget rally might take the Nifty to 5,600 and beyond”.
CHARTPUNDIT.COM (Hemen Kapadia): “We have been down for four months, we are overdue for a bounce back and we should be around 5,800 to 6,000 on Nifty. I am not sure of 6,000 but more than 5,800 are possible before or after the budget”.
ICICI SECURITIES (Amit Gupta): “If you look at the initial upward move from 5170 onwards, we had short covering in the market but after that we have seen some good delivery-based buying also in the cash segment especially in the mid-cap space. So, I think before budget there is an induced buying happening in that particular segment”.
ANGEL BROKING HOUSE (Phani Sekhar): “Unless the market consolidates around 5500-5600 levels, the broader market sentiment won’t improve. It is not essential that the market rallies by 5%-6% in a span of one week”.
MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT-INDIA (Gaurav Doshi): “Market consolidation is in the range of 5400 to 5500 and will set the market up for a rally to 5800 levels on the time near budget. It is good that the market has very low expectations from the budget”.
INDIAN INFOLINE (Amar Ambani): “Some softening was always on the cards after the strong pullback witnessed over the past five trading sessions. The market will be a little bit edgy in the run up to the Union Budget. Also, there may be some extra volatility owing to the F&O expiry next week. The Budget will be presented on Feb. 28, which is post the derivative settlement. Hopefully, the Budget will have some favourable measures to give a fresh impetus to the Indian markets. The broad range for the Nifty is expected between 5,300 and 5,700 in the near term”.
GABA FINANCIAL ADVISORS (Prakash Gaba): “The market still looks up and the next target is 5,619 but just needs to cross the 5,560 mark. The market saw the high at 5,600 and sold off closing in the red. Now 5,500-5,600 is a stiff resistance zone to deal with and we could see some profit booking and the market could be volatile until F&O expiry. The support for the Nifty is at 5,388-5,339 and resistance at 5,500-5,600. For Sensex, the crucial support on the downside is at 17,993-17,829 and resistance at 18,500”.
MONEY WEEKLY FROM ADITYA BIRLA MONEY: "READ HERE"
WEEKLY DERIVATIVE FROM ICICI SECURITIES: "READ HERE"
WEEKLY WRAP FROM INDIAN INFOLINE: "READ HERE"
