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

Indian equity markets closed sharply lower on Thursday as lingering tensions between the US and Iran triggered broad-based selling. The benchmark indices snapped their three-session winning streak, weighed down by losses in auto, financial, IT and consumer stocks. The Nifty fell 365 points, or 1.41%, to settle at 25,454.35, while the 30-share BSE Sensex ended at 82,498.14.

Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX ended at 13.46, up 10.12% from the last closing. –

Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said the Nifty erased the preceding three sessions’ gains in just one session and the index has now slipped below the 50DMA as well as the 21EMA in one go.

“The 200DMA is now positioned nearby and appears vulnerable. Follow-up selling on Friday or Monday could lead to a breakdown below the 200DMA, which may reactivate the bearish trend. On the lower end, support is placed at 25,330/25,000, while on the higher end, resistance is seen at 25,650,” he added.

US markets

Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Thursday, following a three-day winning streak for the S&P 500, as heavyweight technology stocks slipped, while Walmart shares gained after the retail giant’s fourth quarter results.

The retailer’s new CEO, John Furner, kicked off his tenure with a conservative fiscal 2027 forecast as well as a $30 billion buyback plan. ‌Shares of the company ⁠rose 2.4%.

Other ⁠megacap and growth stocks, including Apple, Nvidia and Meta Platforms, traded lower after rising in the previous session.

European Markets

Major European indices traded with deep cuts around 12:54 p.m. GMT (6:39 pm India time) with the UK’s FTSE 100, Spain’s IBEX, Stoxx 600, French CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were down by up to 0.85%.

Tech View

Nilesh Jain, Vice President – Head of Technical and Derivative Research at Centrum Finverse said a sharp decline across indices was amid heightened volatility. The Nifty slipped below its key short-term moving averages and formed a bearish engulfing candlestick, indicating a potential bearish reversal, he added.

“The immediate resistance is placed at the 100-DMA near 25,700 levels. On the downside, the crucial support of the 200-DMA is positioned at 25,310, and a decisive break below this could open further downside towards 25,100 levels. Meanwhile, India VIX surged sharply by 12% to around 13.60, and any further uptick in volatility could be a cause for concern,” Jain said.

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

Newgen Software Technologies (Rs 438 crore), Godfrey Phillips (Rs 273 crore), ESAB India (Rs 227 crore), Netweb Technologies ( Rs 199 crore), Oil India (Rs 191 crore), Larsen & Toubro (L&T, Rs 185 crore) and ICICI Prudential Life (Rs 174 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

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 2.90 crore), SpiceJet (Traded shares: 1.5 crore), EaseMyTrip (Easy Trip Planners, Traded shares: 1.07 crore), Newgen Software (Traded shares: 72.65 crore), Ola Electric (Traded shares: 65.53 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 48.47 lakh) and YES Bank (Traded shares: 42.40 lakh) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Newgen Software Technologies, Netweb Technologies, Tata Investment Corporation, KN Agri Resources, VL E-Governance & IT Solutions and Shankara Buildpro were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52 Week high

Today, 110 stocks hit their 52 week highs while 144 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, Acceleratebs India, Aeroflex Industries, Amagi Media Labs, Bank of India, Bharat Forge and Indus Towers.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Among the large cap names were Indigo (InterGlobe Aviation), Trent and UltraTech Cements. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Persistent Systems, Delphi World Money, Akash Infra Projects, Hilton Metal Forging, Shoppers Stop and GE Power India.

Sentiment meter favours bears

The action in heavyweights like Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank aided the markets the most as the breadth stayed positive in broader markets. Out of the 4,367 stocks that traded on the BSE on February 19, Thursday, 1,209 stocks witnessed advances, 3,011 saw declines while 147 stocks remained unchanged.

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