The domestic equities market on Saturday, May 18, opened at higher levels in the special trading session of the BSE and NSE. The BSE Sensex finished the first round of the special session 42.60 points higher at 73,959.63, while the NSE Nifty ended the first session higher by 15.8 points at 22,481.9.
The second part of the special trading session will be conducted at the disaster recovery (DR) site between 11:30 am to 12:30 pm.
Among the Sensex shares, 18 out of 30 shares traded higher in the first special trading at the primary site (PR). Among the top gainers were Nestle India, Power Grid, IndusInd, Tata Steel, and Tata Motors. The Laggards were JSW Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, and ICICI Bank.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “Dow Jones closing in record territory above 40,000 will continue to provide global support for equity markets. However, in India, the election-related jitters might continue to cause high volatility. A significant trend now is the FIIs turning buyers yesterday, and this takes away the pressure on the markets.”
The unknown in the market now, and there are many views regarding this, is the impact of the low turnout in the first three phases of polling on the election results. If this impacts the BJP/NDA adversely and they fall short of the market expectations, there can be high selling dragging the market down, he added.
“Conversely, if the BJP wins above 300 seats, there can be a sharp rally in the market. Largecaps in financials, autos, capital goods, telecom and real estate are likely to lead the rally. This appears to be the most likely scenario,” Vijayakumar said.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE is conducting a special trading session in the equity and equity derivative segments on Saturday to check their preparedness for handling major disruptions at the primary site. The special live trading session will have an intra-day switchover from the primary site (PR) to the disaster recovery (DR) site.
There will be two sessions — the first from 9:15 am to 10 am from the PR, and the second from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm from the DR site. During the special session, all securities, including those on which derivative products are available, will have a maximum price band of 5 per cent. Securities already in the 2 per cent or lower price band will continue to be available in the respective bands.
Stocks To Watch Today
This global positive sentiment extends to Indian markets, with the Nifty likely trading between 22000-22500, facing resistance at 22500 and support at 22000. Key stock picks include TVS Motors, Indian Hotels, IRCTC, and Coal India. Notably, Balrampur Chinni is recommended for buying at CMP 379, targeting 395/403 with aggressive targets at 419 due to its oversold status. Corporate results from major companies like JSW Steel and Pfizer are also expected today, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
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