Nifty powers through 22,500 with bullish strength
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Market Overview
Nifty opened with a strong 140-point gap-up at 22,476.35 but quickly gave up its gains, slipping below 22,300 and making a low of 22,245.85 within the first hour. However, the index rebounded sharply, recovering nearly 180 points to hit 22,430, before pulling back to around 22,350 by 11:30 AM.
From there, the market gained strength, with momentum picking up in the second half of the day. Nifty crossed the 22,500 mark in the final hour and closed near the day's high at 22,544.70, up 0.92%.
The rally was supported by easing Brent crude prices, which dropped below $69 per barrel, a decline in US bond yields, and a correction in the Dollar Index, which has fallen to 104 from 109 over the past couple of weeks.
With Nifty rallying nearly 600 points from the recent lows, the key question now is where this swing might take a breather.
Broader Market Performance:
Broader markets had a decent day with strong market breadth. Out of 2,996 stocks traded on the NSE, 2,207 advanced, 716 declined, and 73 remained unchanged.
Sectoral Performance:
The top gaining sector was Nifty Metal, which rose by 2.34%, while the only losing sector was Nifty Realty, slipping by 0.17%. Out of the 12 sectors, 11 closed in the green, and just 1 closed in the red.
Note: The above numbers for Commodity futures were taken around 4 pm. NSE has not released today’s FII-DII data yet. Here’s the trend from last 5 days:
Change in OI for the day
The following is the change in OI for Nifty contracts expiring on 13th March:
The maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is observed at 23,000, followed by 22,500, indicating strong resistance at these levels. First strong resistance levels shall most likely be at 22,600, followed by 22,800.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is at 22,500, followed by 22,200, suggesting potential support at 22,200, with additional support at 22,000.
Note: OI is subject to multiple interpretations, but generally, an increase in the call OI indicates resistance in a falling market, and an increase in the put OI indicates support in a rising market.
Source: Sensibull
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What’s happening in India
Shares of paint, aviation, and oil marketing companies rose up to 4.5% after Brent crude prices fell below $70, hitting a 3-year low. Oil prices declined amid US tariffs on Canada and Mexico and OPEC+ increasing output by 138,000 barrels per day, its first hike since 2022. Dive deeper
Automobile retail sales fell 7% in February across all categories, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, due to weakening demand, according to dealers' body FADA. Total domestic sales stood at 18,99,196 units, down from 20,46,328 units in the same month last year. Dive deeper
India’s services activity picked up in February, with the HSBC India Services PMI rising to 59 from 56.5 in January, marking a sharp expansion well above the long-term average. The rebound was driven by stronger domestic and international demand, leading to higher output and job growth. Dive deeper
Mastek has been named a supplier on the UK Crown Commercial Service’s Digital Capability for Health 2 Framework, enhancing its role in supporting NHS digital infrastructure. Dive deeper
INOX India Ltd secures ₹190 Cr orders, bolstering its FY25 order book to ₹1359 Cr and expanding its global reach. Dive deeper
G.M. Breweries plans to venture into infrastructure by forming a wholly-owned subsidiary, Buildfort Infradev, focusing on residential housing. It will be wholly owned with a 10000-share distribution and requires no regulatory approvals. Dive deeper
Bharat Forge’s Kalyani Powertrain partners with Taiwan's Compal Electronics to manufacture X86 platform servers in India under a technology licensing agreement, aligning with India's 'Make in India' policy. This collaboration strengthens server production and local manufacturing competitiveness. Dive deeper
CreditAccess Grameen saw improved business momentum, adding over 1.5 lakh new borrowers in Jan-Feb 2025, with stabilizing asset quality and recovering collection efficiency in Karnataka post-ordinance. This indicates positive prospects. Dive deeper
Route Mobile’s promoter Proximus Global, and Nokia partner to advance network API solutions, enhancing developer capabilities in telecom ecosystems. Dive deeper
What’s happening globally
European bond yields, particularly German Bunds, experienced a significant surge recently, primarily due to Germany's announcement of a substantial €500 billion infrastructure fund and the relaxation of its "debt brake" rule to boost defense spending. This policy shift led to a global bond sell-off, with Germany's 10-year Bund yield rising by 37 basis points to 2.85%, marking the steepest single-day increase since 1990. Dive deeper
Hong Kong shares surged to a fresh three-year high on Thursday, driven by strong gains in tech stocks as investors continued to bet on AI-related companies and welcomed new policy support.
The Hang Seng Index jumped 3.3% to 24,369.71, its highest level since February 2022, while the Hang Seng Tech Index soared 5.4%, briefly hitting its strongest level since late 2021. Dive deeper
The Japanese yen hovered near 149 per dollar on Thursday, its strongest level in five months, supported by broad dollar weakness driven by a stronger euro and concerns over the impact of Trump's new tariffs and retaliatory measures. Dive deeper
The FTSE 100 fell over 0.5% on Thursday, falling for the third consecutive day and lagging behind European markets as investors reacted to corporate earnings. Dive deeper
The dollar index slipped to around 104, a four-month low, weighed down by a stronger euro and escalating trade tensions from Trump's new tariffs and retaliatory measures. Investors now await the US jobs report, after weak ADP data showed the smallest job gain in seven months. Dive deeper
Management chatter
In this section, we pick out interesting comments made by the management of major companies and policymakers of the Indian and Global Economy.
C S Vigneshwar, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Auto sector performance in February
"Dealers noted weak market sentiment which specially continues in the entry level category, delayed conversions, challenging targets and stressed that OEMs should avoid overburdening dealers with excessive inventory -- a practice that risks unmanageable stock levels given the cyclical nature of the industry," - Link
Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Group on Tesla’s entry in India
“Elon Musk is not here. He is in the US, We Indians are here. He cannot produce what Mahindra can do, what Tata can do—it's not possible. He can do (it) under Trump's shadow, in the US. He's super smart, no question about it. He's a maverick, doing spacecraft and all that. He's done amazing work, so I don't want to take anything from him. But to be successful in India is not an easy job,” - Link
Calendars
In the coming days, we have the following significant events and corporate actions:
That’s it from us. Do let us know your feedback in the comments and share it with your friends to spread the word.
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