Sensex cedes more ground…Nifty holds 4700

The BSE Sensex ended at 15,727, down 146 points or ~0.9% over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 15,887 and a day’s low of 15,666. It had opened at 15,854. The intermediate sideways consolidation pattern persisted even today with the main equity indices closing lower for the second day running. The markets opened on a sluggish note and failed to recover from then on, hitting session lows in the afternoon. Contrary to expectations, trading wasn’t choppy despite F&O expiry scheduled for Thursday. Still, the Indian VIX was up more than 1.5%. Trading volumes too weren’t all that great on the penultimate day of the near-month derivative series. Market breadth was weak as the selloff today was broad based. Bank and Metal shares took it on the chin today followed by Oil & Gas, FMCG and Auto scrips. S&P CNX Defty, which is measured in the US Dollar terms, was down 1.7% today even as the rupee slipped against the dollar. Still, the NSE Nifty managed to keep its head above the 4700 mark after dipping under it in intraday trade. The Nifty has been holding above 4700 for the past few sessions. A 62% retracement of the entire upmove, beginning from 4530, points to near term support at 4635. Fresh buying interest is likely to emerge around this level. The outlook for the market remains cautious as long as the Nifty trades below 4810. The BSE Sensex ended at 15,727, down 146 points or ~0.9% over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 15,887 and a day’s low of 15,666. It had opened at 15,854.