Stocks to buy: Raja Venkatraman's top picks for 8 January

The Sensex dropped 102 points, or 0.12%, to end at 84,961.14, while the Nifty 50 settled at 26,140.75, down 38 points, or 0.14%. The mid and small-cap indices outperformed. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 0.47% and 0.12%, respectively.

Best stocks to buy on 8 January as recommended by Raja Venkatraman of NeoTrader.

(All Buy trades are rates of Equity & Sell rates are based on F&O)

ABB: Buy above ₹5310, stop ₹5160 target ₹5700 (Multiday)

ALKEM: Buy above ₹5815, stop ₹5575 target ₹6250 (Multiday)

BSOFT: Buy above ₹444, stop ₹434 target ₹460 (Intraday)

Stock market recap

Indian equities extended their losing streak for the third consecutive session on 7 January, with Nifty slipping below 26,150 amid persistent volatility driven by geopolitical tensions, sustained FII outflows, and weakness across Asian markets.

At close, the Sensex fell 102 points to 84,961.14, while the Nifty declined 37.95 points to 26,140.75. Broader markets showed resilience, with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.5% and Smallcap gaining 0.12%.

Sectoral action was mixed: Titan Co. surged 4% to a fresh 52-week high on strong Q3 performance, while Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Wipro, and Jio Financial also supported the index. On the downside, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Max Healthcare, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, and Power Grid dragged. In stock-specific moves, Senco Gold rallied 12% after a 51% jump in Q3 revenue, Bliss GVS Pharma gained 3% on block deals, while Indian Hotels slipped 1% post Morgan Stanley downgrade. Meanwhile, Meesho dropped 5% as its one-month lock-in expired, reflecting profit booking pressure. This cautious sentiment underscores investor unease, though selective midcap and consumption plays continue to attract buying interest.

Outlook for trading

Despite the best intentions the market could not conjure up enough strength to continue its upward march seen on Wednesday. We had mentioned 25900-26000 as an important zone that continues to be held. The selling in the last few days continues unabated. However, the lack of clarity is demanding that we need more encouraging tailwinds to holdback 26000. The steady attempt to buy on every dip has once again given people a reason to maintain the bullish side of the markets for now. With no clarity on future course of action, we should be looking at participating with a neutral bias.

We saw a determined push by the bulls in the last session that could not carry Nifty decisively beyond 26100 levels. Despite strong Q2 performance this time around the trends have not been able to demonstrate a convincing move above this level.

With so much volatility demonstrated the Nifty truly has kept the trends guessing the next move. As seen on the charts the reaction that we are noticing now has retraced to an important support of around 26080 which is 61.8% of the last rise seen since 30 October. The recent price action is seen holding the Fibonacci supports As repeated test of resistance will now become a point of contention it was not surprising to see some selling emerge from those levels. Indeed, the selloff seen towards the close of the session seemed quite determined with sustained follow through price action.

This becomes quite confounding for trend following people as they normally look for sentiment to continue to run if it has been set off. But here you have the market displaying rapid shifts in moods and it also seems like operators are taking strong advantage of this.

Nifty is struggling to hold 26000 zone will now need to hold back any selling pressure that can emerge. With the Open Interest data clearly indicating market is now divided as lower levels are being bought into. The data reveals that the Max Pain point has now moved to 26150 we need to see how this level holds on Thursday to decide the way forward.

For undertaking shorts, we need to see Nifty move above 25900 which is the immediate support as per the Open Interest data. If we witness a 30-minute range breakout on Wednesday we can consider to trade on either side as the trends still remain tentative where we expect some resistances to kick in.

While the trends in the indices are still unclear there is plenty of action as far as the stocks are concerned.

We continue to maintain long positions in the Nifty so long as 26000 holds, viewing any sustained move below that level as a clear sign that bullish conviction is waning. The resistances have now moved from 26400 to 26250, while open interest shows that the road ahead is more open.

Three stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:

ABB (current market price ₹5299) - Buy above ₹5310, stop loss ₹5160, target price ₹5700 (Multiday)

• Why it’s recommended: ABB India Ltd specializes in electrification and automation solutions for utilities, industries, transport, and infrastructure, focusing on sustainability, efficiency, and digitalization. The last few months the trends have spent below the cloud and the strong surge that witnessed a rise today clearly spells more upside highlighting a bullish possibility. Robust moves beyond TS and KS on Daily charts is fueling a new upward possibility.
• Key metrics:
  • P/E Ratio : 63.46
  • 52-week high: ₹6711.95,
  • Volume: 123.20K
• Technical analysis: Support at ₹5000, resistance at ₹7500.
• Risk factors: Macroeconomic uncertainties to intense competition in the industrial automation and electrification sectors.
• Buy : above ₹5315.
• Stop loss: ₹5160.
• Target price: ₹5700 (1 Month)

ALKEM (current market price ₹5806.50) - Buy above ₹5815, stop ₹5575 target ₹6250 (Multiday)

• Why it’s recommended: Alkem Laboratories Ltd is a major Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Mumbai, specializing in affordable generic and specialty medicines, nutraceuticals, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for global markets. A strong long body candle breakout seen on Tuesday has now opened a new trend possibility. A sharp rise in the ADX and DI indicates that we can look to initiate a long opportunity here for a push to higher levels. Go long now.
• Key metrics:
  • P/E: 30.77,
  • 52-week high: ₹5867.50,
  • Volume: 188.59K.
• Technical analysis: Support at ₹5400, resistance at ₹6300.
• Risk factors: High dependence on acute therapeutic segment and international regulatory scrutiny.
• Buy : above ₹5815.
• Stop loss: ₹5575.
• Target price: ₹6250(1 Month)

BSOFT (current market price ₹443.40) - Buy above ₹444, stop loss ₹434, target price ₹460 (Intraday)

• Why it’s recommended: Birlasoft Ltd is an Indian-based global IT services and solutions provider. The company provides software development, IT consulting, and product engineering solutions across various industries. Post some strong upmove the prices are seen taking a breather. With the momentum holding steady in the last few trading sessions the possibility of more upward traction has emerged. ADX is also seen charging higher hence we can look at possibility of more upward traction.
• Key metrics:
  • P/E Ratio: 44.85
  • 52-week high: ₹564.35
  • Volume: 2.6M.
• Technical analysis: Support at ₹415, resistance at ₹485.
• Risk factors: Revenue Growth Stagnation & Decline, High Attrition and Talent Costs and .
• Buy: Above ₹444.
• Stop loss: ₹434.
• Target price: ₹460.

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.