Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Friday

Indian benchmark indices ended flat on the monthly expiry day today (Thursday, December 26) amid a range bound trade. The weakness was on account of corrections in FMCG and bank stocks though auto and pharma stocks salvaged some pride. While the S&P BSE Sensex settled at 78,472.48, down by 0.39 points, the broader Nifty closed at 23,750.20, higher by 22.55 points or 0.1%.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse:

Commenting on the day's action, Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said that Nifty's sideways movement was because investors have chosen to remain on the sidelines. "The index remained below the 200 DMA, reinforcing the prevailing weakness. The RSI indicator showed bearish momentum with a weak crossover, indicating sluggish movement. In the short term, the index may stay under pressure or struggle to rise to higher levels. Support is at 23,700/23,600, while resistance is seen at 23,850, De said.

US markets

Wall Street's major indexes edged lower on Thursday amid light trading volumes, as rising yields weighed on shares, while investors awaited a potential year-end boost from the "Santa Claus rally."Yields on government bonds climbed, with the 10-year benchmark yield reaching 4.64%, its highest since early May.

Among megacap stocks, Amazon.com dropped 0.3%, and Meta Platforms declined 0.6%.

Rate-sensitive real estate stocks led losses, slipping 0.4%, followed by a 0.5% dip in consumer discretionary stocks.

European Markets

Major European markets are closed on Thursday, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

Tech View

Nifty has traded in a narrow range of 300 points this week and is not showing any clear direction, Chandan Taparia, Head, Equity Derivatives & Technicals, Wealth Management at MOFSL said, commenting on the current trends. "For the last three days index struggled near the 23,870 level on the upside while finding support around 23,600 on the downside. This tug of war between bulls and bears led to the formation of multiple Doji candles and inside bars on the daily chart indicating indecision. Nifty is hovering near its 200-day EMA and trading below its short-term moving averages as well. On the weekly chart, the index has formed a Doji candle indicating support-based buying, but with limited upside potential," he said.

On option front, maximum CALL OI is at 24,000 followed by 25,000 strike while maximum PUT OI is at 23,800 then 23,000 strike, this analyst said, adding that CALL writing is seen at 23,800 followed by 24,000 strike while PUT writing at 23,800 then 23,000 strike.

Option data suggests a broader trading range in between 23,200 to 24,200 zones while an immediate range between 23,500 to 23,900 levels, the MOFSL expert said.

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

One Mobikwik Systems (Rs 433.21 crore), Vishal Mega Mart (Rs 122.19 crore), International Gemmological Institute India (Rs 120.71 crore), Mazagon Dock (Rs 106.41 crore), Reliance Industries (RIL, Rs 68.05. crore), Infosys (56.14 crore) and Tata Motors (Rs 56.09 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Srestha Finvest (Traded shares: 4.25 crore), Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 3.71 crore), Mishtann Foods (Traded shares: 1.15 crore), Yes Bank (Traded shares: 74.74 crore), GTL Infra (Traded shares: 72.16 lakh), One Mobikwik (Traded shares: 66.02 lakh) and Sagility India (Traded shares: 42,91 lakh) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), Intellect Design, Godfrey Phillips, Amber Enterprises, Kfin Technologies, PNC Infratech, Newgen Technologies and Bluedart were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52 Week high

Over 155 stocks hit their 52 week highs today while 80 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included 360 One Wam, Amber Enterprises, CarTrade Tech, International Gemmological Institute, Inventurus Knowledge Solutions, One Mobikwik, Newgen, Piccadily Agro Industries and Sagility.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Among the large cap names were Titan Company, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Hindustan Copper, Finolex Cables, Titagarh Rail Systems, Page Industries, Vardhman Textiles and Usha Martin.

Sentiment meter favours bears

Action in heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Titan dragged markets ensuring a flat ending. The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,074 stocks that traded on the BSE on Thursday, 2,395 stocks witnessed declines, 1,593 saw advances while 86 stocks remained unchanged.

Also Read: Nasdaq, Hang Seng beat Nifty by wide margin. Will it be India's turn in 2025?

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)