Index Action
Nifty50
The Nifty50 extended losses for the second straight day and took support at 17,000 levels. FMCG and banking stocks came under selling pressure, while oil & gas and IT stocks traded higher. At 12 pm today, it was trading 96 points lower at 17,021.
For March 24 options contracts, the Nifty50 has sizable positions at 17,300 and 17,200 call options and 17,000 and 16,800 put options. Further, additions were seen in 17,200 call options and 17,000 put options.
The Nifty50's immediate support is at 16,700 and resistance is at 17,500 levels.
Bank Nifty
The Bank Nifty fell sharply to 35,400 levels and underperformed the Nifty50 by nearly 1%. With all the 12 stocks of the index trading lower, the Bank Nifty dropped 570 points to 35,448.
For March 24 options contracts, the Bank Nifty has sizable positions at 36,500 and 36,000 call options and 35,500 and 35,000 put options. Further additions were seen in 36,000 call options and 35,500 put options.
The Bank Nifty's immediate support is at 35,100 and resistance is at 36,700 levels.
Stock Action
Top gainers: Rain Industries, Intellect Design, Birlasoft, ONGC and Indian Hotels.
Top losers: Delta Corp, Apollo Hospitals, Godrej Consumer, HUL and Whirlpool.
Sector Update
Among the sectors, the Oil & Gas and IT indices witnessed buying interest. Stocks like ONGC, Reliance Industries, HPCL, Mphasis and Tech Mahindra are trading in the green.
The FMCG and banking sectors came under selling pressure. Stocks like Godrej Consumer, HUL, Marico, Bandhan Bank and IDFC First Bank are trading in the red.
Global Markets Update
Major European markets are likely to open mixed as their Futures are trading flat to negative in the range of -1 to +0.03%. US Futures are trading lower, down by 0.1%.