Sensex, Nifty erase all gains to end in red; here’s what spooked Dalal Street today and why

Sensex and Nifty opened with gains on Friday morning following strong global cues but failed to hold on to those gains and closed down in the red. S&P BSE Sensex ended 487 points lower at 50,792 while the 50-stock NSE Nifty closed at 15,030. Only four stocks on Sensex closed with gains, of which only Powergrid Corporation recorded more than 1% gains. Other gainers included ONGC, Titan, and Infosys. Reliance Industries and Banking stocks were the top drags. Bank Nifty ended 1.35% lower during the day while the Nifty PSU Bank index closed 1.5% lower.

Rusmik Oza, Executive Vice President, Head of Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities-

“Indian markets have been following global markets which are nearing the previous peaks. The Nifty-50 gained 0.6% this week which going above the 15,000 mark. Going by the recent moves there is selling pressure at higher levels which is capping the gains in Nifty-50. Bond yields are moving erratically which could keep volatility on the higher side. Even though the European bond yields have come off sharply US 10 Year bond yield is still trading at the yearly high level of 1.6%. All eyes will be on the Fed action going forward. Nifty-50 needs to sustain above 15,000 for couple of more days for the uptrend to continue.”

Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments –

“We were unsuccessful in getting past 15300 on a closing basis which was the resistance level for the Nifty. We turned sharply after touching that patch this morning. Hence we have re-entered the trading zone of between 14900-15300. Unless we do not get past either levels convincingly and on the backing of good volumes, the markets are going to continue trading in a lacklustre fashion.”

Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking

“Markets ended lower amid excessive volatility, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase. Initially, the benchmark opened firm, tracking upbeat global cues however surge in bond yields impacted sentiment as the day progressed. Markets will react to the macro data viz. IIP and CPI inflation On Monday. Besides, global cues and COVID-19 related updates will also in focus. Amid all, we reiterate our cautious view on markets until we see either side’s decisive break in Nifty and suggest keeping a check on leveraged positions.”

Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities –

“Index managed to close a week above 15,000 mark with gains of half per cent and formed Doji candle pattern on weekly chart hinting uncertainty in the market at the upper range. On the downside index has strong and good support at 14,850 zone any decisive break below said levels can show some more pressure towards 14,500 zone on an immediate basis, the strong hurdle is still at 15,250 zone only above that level we may see some stability.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services-

“Indian markets failed to hold on to its strong start as rising bond yield countered positive sentiments. All major sectoral indices belled the day in negative terrain while smallcap indices continued to remain positive. The US market has had a robust close yesterday taking cues from fall in the US unemployment rate and signing of the stimulus bill. However, Asian & European markets couldn’t maintain the optimism due to rising US bond yield ahead of the FED policy meeting next week.”