Stock market recap: Indian equity markets extended their losing streak for the fourth straight session, pressured by surging crude oil prices amid heightened tensions in West Asia.
The Sensex and Nifty closed sharply lower, with the Nifty slipping below the 22,900 mark. Selling was broad-based, though a few stocks managed to buck the trend.
Two stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:
BAJAJHLDNG (Cmp ₹10540)
- Why it’s recommended: Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd. (BAJAJHLDNG) is a systemically important, Pune-headquartered Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) acting as the primary investment vehicle for the Bajaj Group. After a long period of consolidation, a strong Q1 numbers signalling signs of a revival in FMCG sector is fuelling the up move in the last session. A strong thrust above there scent value resistance around 1475 could carry the prices higher. Consider going long.
- Key metrics:
- P/E: 25.16,
- 52-week high: ₹14753.50,
- Volume: 108.34K
- Technical analysis: Support at ₹9900, resistance at ₹12000.
- Risk factors: Systemic market volatility, sectoral downturns (like auto or finance), and dividend cuts.
- Buy: above ₹10540.
- Stop loss: ₹10100.
- Target price: ₹11425 (2 Months)
MEDANTA (Cmp 1378.20)
- Why it’s recommended: Medanta (Global Health Limited) is a premier Indian multi-specialty medical facility network founded in 2009 by renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Naresh Trehan. The stock has been performing well after some sharp profit booking see the prices test 960 levels in April. The strong recovery since then has witnessed some strong upmove, the range breakout from this phase for the last three months is now moving out. The strong push seen suggests more potential upside . With the pharma sector holding up, we can expect the upward momentum to continue.
- Key metrics:
- P/E Ratio : 74.45,
- 52-week high: ₹1455.85,
- Volume: 817.13K
- Technical analysis: Support at ₹1300, resistance at ₹1700.
- Risk factors: Regulatory price caps, high doctor and nursing attrition, and execution delays.
- Buy: above ₹1380
- Stop loss: ₹1310
- Target price: ₹1725 (2 Months)
Stock Market Today
On 23 July, Indian equity markets extended their losing streak for the fourth straight session, pressured by surging crude oil prices amid heightened tensions in West Asia. The Sensex and Nifty closed sharply lower, with the Nifty slipping below the 22,900 mark. Selling was broad-based, though a few stocks managed to buck the trend. Adani Enterprises, Shriram Finance, Nestle India, Adani Ports, and Cipla were among the biggest losers, while Bajaj Auto, SBI Life Insurance, M&M, TCS, and Eicher Motors posted gains.
Sectoral performance was largely weak, with Nifty Realty leading the decline, down nearly 2%, followed by Oil & Gas, Infrastructure, PSU Bank, and Energy indices, each losing around 1%. Metals, Pharma, FMCG, Consumer Durables, and IT also ended in the red. On the brighter side, Nifty Auto rose 0.66%, supported by strong momentum, while Nifty Media added 0.26%. Midcap and smallcap indices slipped 1% each, reflecting broad market weakness.
Outlook for Trading
Nifty has been on a roller coaster ride. After a static collapse seen a few weeks ago, the attempt to rebound has been quite weak. Last week, we mentioned that the markets are poised at an interesting stage. The June series, the broader indices attempt to revive, has been reset as every recovery is rendered ineffective. The steady attempt at moving higher in the last three months are unable to find encouraging triggers to fuel the bullish cause.
While RBI did not offer much rope in the recent policy by maintaining a status quo on the rates it would now move on to some triggers emanating from the macro numbers. With the news on the war front not stabilizing we could witness a volatile market trend in the coming week. Bank Nifty has been clearly under listless while maintaining an upward bias that has generated widespread disappointment. The market was largely docile as the participants were getting mixed signals about government initiative to improve the fiscal deficit.
In last week's letter, we were looking for a rally to emerge. From the chart below, we can see that the support levels are now under threat. A doji indicating uncertainty has been formed at the start of the week, suggesting that we are poised at a tentative stage as we finished the week strongly. On the other hand, the Bank Nifty has been a bit of a disappointment, as despite decent numbers, the sell-off at higher levels has started impacting the Nifty, highlighting that this sector is now impacting its moves.
It was therefore left to the other sectors to carry the day. But the breadth was negative overall and helped to trigger stock-specific actions. The options buildup also indicated that sentiment had shifted back to bearish as we begin the week.
Raja Venkatraman is co-founder, NeoTrader. His Sebi-registered research analyst registration no. is INH000016223.
Investments in securities are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Registration granted by Sebi and certification from NISM in no way guarantees performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.