The Nifty 50 began the trading session on Thursday with a gap-up opening at 24,225, compared to its previous close of 24,078 on Wednesday. The index has since hovered around the 24,200 mark, recording an increase of approximately 0.6 per cent.
Market breadth displayed a positive bias, reflected in an advance/decline ratio of 38/12. Among individual constituents, Eternal led the gains with a 2.5 per cent increase, followed closely by Shriram Finance, which rose 2.3 per cent. Conversely, Hindalco Industries dropped 2.2 per cent and ONGC declined 1.4 per cent, making them the leading losers of the session.
Sectoral performance was largely positive, with Nifty Oil & Gas being the only sector in the red, down 0.4 per cent. Leading the positive chart were Nifty IT, which climbed 1.4 per cent, and Nifty Private Bank, which gained nearly 1 per cent. Overall market bias points to a bullish trend, despite upcoming resistance levels for both the Nifty 50 and Nifty futures.
In derivatives trading, the August expiry Nifty futures contract opened higher at 24,236 against the previous close of 24,118. The contract is currently trading near 24,260, up by 0.6 per cent.
Technical charts indicate that the Nifty futures contract faces a key resistance barrier at 24,300, which aligns with the 50-day moving average. A successful breakout above this resistance could potentially push the index toward 24,400, with subsequent resistance lying at 24,500. On the downside, if the contract fails to clear the 24,300 barrier, it may retrace to 24,100, with immediate support placed further down at 24,000.
"The current market movement reflects broad-based participation, particularly led by the IT and private banking sectors, which indicates healthy underlying sentiment. However, technical resistance levels such as the 50-day moving average at 24,300 for Nifty futures require traders to exercise caution. Navigating these near-term barriers will depend on sustained volume and sector-specific momentum in the coming sessions." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes
