Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex closed with mild gains on Monday, March 18, on gains led by select metal and auto heavyweights, including Tata Steel, Mahindra and Mahindra, JSW Steel and Tata Motors.

The market's focus is now directed towards the upcoming monetary policy meetings of major central banks such as those of the US, UK, and Japan scheduled for this week.

The Nifty 50 opened at 21,990.10 against the previous close of 22,023.35 and touched its intraday high and low of 22,123.70 and 21,916.55 respectively. The index finally closed 32 points, or 0.15 per cent, higher at 22,055.70.

The Sensex opened at 72,587.30 against the previous close of 72,643.43 and touched its intraday high and low of 72,985.89 and 72,314.16 respectively. The 30-share pack closed 105 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher at 72,748.42.

Shares of Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and Mahindra and Mahindra were the top contributors to the rise in the Sensex. However, shares of Infosys, TCS and HDFC Bank ended as the top drags on the index.

Mid and smallcap indices underperformed the benchmarks. The BSE Midcap index ended 0.04 per cent up while the Smallcap index ended 0.07 per cent lower.

Top Nifty 50 gainers today

Shares of Tata Steel (up 5.01 per cent), Mahindra and Mahindra (up 3.31 per cent) and JSW Steel (up 2.81 per cent) closed as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index.

Top Nifty 50 losers today

Shares of UPL (down 2 per cent), Infosys (down 1.97 per cent) and Tata Consumer Products (down 1.95 per cent) closed as the top losers in the Nifty 50 pack.

Sectoral indices today

Nifty Metal, with a gain of 2.33 per cent, ended as the top gainer among sectoral indices, followed by Nifty Ayto (up 1.29 per cent), Realty (up 1.22 per cent) and Media (up 1.09 per cent).

On the flip side, Nifty IT lost 1.79 per cent. Nifty Bank closed with a nominal gain of 0.07 per cent while the PSU Bank index rose 0.44 per cent. Nifty Private Bank ended 0.03 per cent lower.

Expert's views on markets

"The Indian market followed the positive Asian peers with a mixed bias. Domestic issues, like mutual fund stress tests, hardly brought any negative views, but premium valuation remains as a concern. Midcap and small caps are attempting to scroll up, however, consolidation persists. Both DII and FII inflows are strong for large caps, hence sustaining their outperformance," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"Policy actions, this week, from global central banks, the US Fed, Bank of Japan, and Bank of England will dictate the market direction. Indication by the Fed that rate cut may be probably in the latter half of 2024 should bring a mixed sentiment in the short term," said Nair.

Technical views on Nifty 50

"Nifty managed to hold on to the support zone of 21,900 – 21,850 where support in the form of the 40-day average and the previous swing low is placed. It is still trading in the range of 21,900 – 22,200 since the last three trading sessions and a decisive breach shall lead to trending moves in that direction," said Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"Until the support zone is held, we can expect the positive momentum to resume. In terms of levels, 22,215 – 22,250 is the immediate hurdle zone while 21,900 – 21,860 is the crucial support," Gedia said.

Source : mint