Price action remained confined within the range of the large red candle formed on September 15, pointing to continued consolidation rather than a decisive trend reversal. Despite intraday volatility, the overall trading range remained narrow, with both buyers and sellers struggling to gain control.
HDFC Life, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and SBI Life led the gains among Nifty 50 constituents, while ONGC, Titan Company and HDFC Bank were the top losers.
Among sectoral indices, barring Nifty Private Bank, PSU Bank and Oil & Gas, all indices ended higher. Pharma, Healthcare and Realty were the top gainers.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 gaining 0.72% and 0.76%, respectively.
The rupee also saw a volatile session, initially weakening amid a hawkish Federal Reserve and softer Asian currencies before recovering to end 3 paise higher at 95.93 against the US dollar.
Nifty outlook
Indian equities are likely to remain cautiously positive, with the Federal Reserve’s rate hike largely priced in and Brent crude easing 1.5% to $103.80 a barrel, offering some relief.
The Fed raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%, citing persistent inflation while signalling further increases could follow. Projections point to one more 25-basis-point hike by December, taking the rate to 4%-4.25%, with the committee signalling a hold at that level through 2027.
Inflation is now expected to return to the 2% target only by 2029, a year later than previously projected, said Siddhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal.
Nandish Shah of HDFC Securities said the recent pullback has been insufficient to restore confidence for fresh bullish trades in the index. Immediate resistance is seen at 23,360, while stronger positional resistance is placed near 23,600. On the downside, the 23,070-23,100 band remains the key support zone.
Hitesh Rathi of Angel One said the 23,100-23,000 band remains an immediate and important support zone for the Nifty. On the upside, the 23,630-23,600 zone, which aligns with previous session highs, remains a strong hurdle, while immediate resistance is placed in the 23,450-23,500 band.
Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities said the Nifty could face a strong hurdle around 23,400-23,500 on further upside. However, a decisive break below 23,000 could trigger another round of weakness, he added.
Rupak De of LKP Securities said resistance is placed at 23,300, and sustained trading above this level could trigger a move towards 23,500. On the downside, support is placed at 23,200, below which the trend could weaken.
Bank Nifty outlook
Bank Nifty witnessed profit booking on Thursday after scaling an intraday high of 56,570, resulting in a correction of more than 500 points from the day’s peak. Despite the intraday volatility, the index formed a small-bodied candle with a long upper shadow on the daily chart, indicating selling pressure at higher levels and limited follow-through buying.
Sudeep Shah of SBI Securities said the index continues to trade below its key short-term and long-term moving averages, pointing to a cautious undertone. Momentum indicators remain largely neutral, suggesting that the index is consolidating within a broad range rather than showing a strong directional bias.
Going forward, the 55,600-55,500 zone is expected to act as a crucial support area, with the 50% Fibonacci retracement of the previous upward rally positioned within this range. Holding above this support band will be important for maintaining the ongoing consolidation structure.
On the upside, the 56,500-56,600 zone remains a key resistance area. A decisive breakout above 56,600 could improve near-term sentiment and trigger a fresh recovery, Shah said. Until then, Bank Nifty is likely to remain range-bound, with 55,500 support and 56,600 resistance in focus.
