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Indian stock markets: Domestic frontline indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, ended flat on Tuesday, 23 December, on profit booking at higher levels, even as mid and small-cap segments ended with modest gains amid mixed global cues.

The Sensex ended with a minor loss of 43 points, or 0.05%, at 85,524.84, while the Nifty 50 closed 5 points, or 0.02%, up at 26,177.15. The BSE Midcap index inched up by 0.07%, and the Smallcap index rose by 0.38%.

Select heavyweights, such as Infosys, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank, were among the top drags on the benchmarks, while HDFC Bank and ITC were among the key supports.

On 23 December, Indian equity markets struggled to sustain early momentum and slipped into a rangebound trajectory, snapping their two-day winning streak.

The Nifty 50 closed marginally higher by 4.75 points or 0.02 percent at 26,177.15, while the Sensex edged lower by 42.64 points or 0.05 percent to settle at 85,524.84. Broader market performance was mixed, with the BSE Midcap index ending flat and the Smallcap index advancing 0.4 percent, reflecting selective buying interest.

Among sectoral movers, Coal India, Shriram Finance, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, and Power Grid Corporation emerged as notable gainers, lending support to the benchmark indices.

In contrast, heavyweights such as Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, and Axis Bank dragged on sentiment, capping upside potential. The session highlighted cautious investor mood ahead of year-end, with traders preferring to book profits and maintain defensive positions amid limited directional cues.

Outlook for Trading

Markets take a pause and the inability of the trader to finalise on the trends is continuing to be a pain point that could keep the overall market participants in a state of confusion. With a swift recovery from lower levels, we can note that the overall market sentiment continues to hold a tensed outlook despite flashes of bullishness that are now influencing the trends hold on to the good work at the moment.

A small body candle continues to emerge at the resistance zones and this needs to worked in our favour. Currently we are undergoing a volatile scenario that is keeping the trends on leash forcing us to reconsider that the way ahead is not going to be easy. With the possibility of sustained upward traction, we can look for any intraday dips as a reason to buy into.

The weekly expiry remained muted and the possibility of some further bounce remains that has sustained and shown some strong upward trajectory. As trends are clearly dependent on the global cues, we will continue to experience some restricted action and the gaps in every decline will remain a buying opportunity.

The option data clearly highlights with a PCR around 1 the challenge will be how to handle the strong phases of decline that sets in making it difficult to rebound. We are now looking at some range breakout trades for the day as we are in a curtailed week as the market would look to consolidate as we near the month end rally also know as a Santa rally that will seek to spread some bullish cheer as we near the monthly expiry. We had suggested that Nifty may have difficulty at higher levels and this continues to be the pain point as we head into the session.

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.

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