Bulls Vs. Bears: Bulls Fail To Charge Ahead, Bears Close In

Both the indices have engulfed the previous day prices indicating a very bearish outlook.

Despite opening the gap-up Nifty couldn’t move up beyond the morning high. Both Nifty and Bank Nifty were seen sliding since morning and continued till close. Both the indices have engulfed the previous day prices indicating a very bearish outlook. Nifty and Bank Nifty closed in red for the 5th day in a row. Nifty went down 101(-0.57%) points while Bank Nifty closed 445 (-1.24%) points. Bank Nifty and Nifty continue to trade below 200 DMA.

The advances in Nifty stocks were 992 while the declines were 1272 and 92 stocks remained unchanged. This improved compared to yesterday’s advances and declines.

IndiaVix moved up to 16.30.(+0.08). It had cooled off in the morning before it moved up to close higher. is still positive but it has taken a pause and remained flat for the most part of the session, unlike yesterday’s climb. Will this be a lull before a storm is a question that probably has no answer.

The fear of a higher ECB rate hike despite the turmoil in the banking sector led to European markets slid down. Credit Suisse AG trades were halted after it dropped 18%. BNP Paribas shares halted after it fell 8%. The banking saga continues across US and the Europe.

While writing German DAX and France CAC fall by over 3%, Italy FTSE MIB and Spain IBEX 35 fall by over 4%.

China is set to cut steel output to rein in carbon emission from this polluting industry. Probably the reason why Indian metal stocks were up.

FIIs were net sellers today and sold Rs.1271 crore in the cash market. On the other hand, DIIS were net buyers at Rs. 1824 crores.

Local

India’s imports and exports dipped 8% YoY. Indian exports has dipped 3 months in a row now. The trade deficit also contracted to USD 17.4 billion in February 2023, as compared to USD 18.75 billion in the year-ago period. The deficit narrowed to USD 17.76 billion MoM as well.

Stocks

Adani stocks gained as Finance Ministry said there will be no committee to probe Hindenburg allegation against Adani and also the DRI investigation on coal import is not been finalised.

GST authorities issued notices to HUL and P&G in violation of cross charge mechanism. Both the stocks ended in red over 1 %.

Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Nestle India were among biggest losers on the Nifty, while other gainers included Asian Paints, Tata Steel and Titan Company.

Sector

Except metal, consumer durable, public sector enterprises, pharma and commodities, all other sectoral indices ended in the red.

Open positions

The total open positions in the call for the weekly expiry of 16 March 2023 stood at 15.35 crore while the total open position for the puts were at 7.60 crore. Over 1.85 crore calls were added as compared to 0.92 crore put addition. Maximum OI was at 17200 and 17500 strikes and the maximum OI was for the puts were at 16900 and 16800. The put call ratio remained at 0.50.

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The bears are relentless

Despite a positive Wallstreet close Indian market couldn’t built up on that. Negative news from Europe this time giving the bulls no time to consolidate and the bears took charge. The banking saga will take more time to settle down as European banks are being hammered. Adding to the woes the ECB is not going to budge from its aggressive rate hike stand. All these factors continue to add to the fear of contagion effect. As expressed in the morning caution is the word.

Hemant Ghai