On the first session of the holiday-shortened week, the Indian equity market remained strong, tracking global cues. A dovish speech by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell boosted risk-on sentiment, but the Nifty continued to face resistance around the 25,000 mark, ending just below it.After Friday’s sharp weakness, the index staged a smart rebound on Monday. It opened on a positive note and extended gains through most of the session before consolidating towards the close.The Nifty ultimately added 98 points to end at 24,968, capping a largely range-bound trading day.
Leading the charge among the Nifty’s top performers were IT heavyweights Infosys, TCS, and HCL Technologies, which contributed significantly to the index’s climb. Brokerages also turned positive on the sector, with TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, and Wipro emerging as the top Nifty gainers.Paper stocks also rallied sharply after the government imposed a Minimum Import Price (MIP) on Virgin Multi-layer Paper Board to protect domestic players from low-cost Indonesian imports, following a DGTR probe confirming dumping. JK Paper, West Coast Paper, and Emami Paper surged up to 20%.Amongst the sectoral indices, Nifty IT, Metals and Consumer durables emerged as major gainers. Conversely, sectors such as Nifty Media, FMCG, and PSU Banks were the major losers for the day.The broader market underperformed the benchmark today. The Nifty Midcap 100 Index gained a modest 0.12%, while the Nifty Smallcap Index ended marginally in the red.
Going ahead, significant events such as the imminent Trump tariff deadline and the monthly expiration are poised to occur this week, which may induce heightened volatility.Tuesday’s session will also witness the opening of two initial public offering (IPOs) – Vikran Engineering and Anlon Healthcare.Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities expects more upside for the Nifty in the near term. Hence, the next upside target to be watched around 25,200-25,300 in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 24,800.LKP Securities’ Rupak De said the sentiment remains positive as long as the index holds above 24,800. In the near term, particularly on Tuesday, the Indian market may trade sideways as traders await the final verdict on Trump’s additional 25% tariff decision on August 27.De expects the Nifty to remain within the range of 24,800-25,150 before any decisive directional move.”A decisive move above 25,084 would confirm the bullish trend reversal for Nifty. On the lower side, 20 and 50 DEMA, which coincides near 24,847, would continue to serve as support in Nifty,” said Nandish Shah of HDFC Securities.On the levels front, the convergence of the 20-DEMA and the upper band of the bullish gap at 24850 is anticipated to function as an intermediate support zone, potentially mitigating any downward movements. This is followed by a critical support level at 24,750, said Osho Krishan of Angel One.”On the flip side, any sustained move beyond 25,000-25,050 is likely to restore strength in the index, facilitating a re-test of the significant resistance level at 25,150 in the foreseeable future,” Krishan said.
