Midcap, smallcap indices outperform benchmarks; here’s what investors should do today

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Indian benchmark equity indices ended mixed on Wednesday. Both Sensex and Nifty had a gap down opening followed by a higher selling pressure . Weakness in heavyweights like ITC and HDFC Bank kept the benchmarks in the red for most of the day, however a smart recovery in late afternoon and last hour buying helped counter the losses made through the day.

The Sensex settled 85 points or 0.16% lower at 51,849, while the Nifty ended just 1 point or 0.01% higher at 15,576.

MidCaps, SmallCaps outperform Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks as both MidCap and SmallCap indices closed over a percent higher each. Midcap index ended 1.4% higher to post record close.

Among sectors, strong gains were seen in PSU Banks, metals, auto and realty indices, while Nifty FMCG and Nifty IT ended in the red.

UPL, Tata Steel, SBI Life Insurance, IndusInd Bank and Adani Ports were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers included ITC, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Asian Paints and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Analysts say the index may consolidate a bit from here on, but the broader trend still remains positive.

Here’s what experts say investors should do on Thursday 

Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking

Markets traded volatile in a range and ended unchanged, extending yesterday’s pause. We reiterate our view to focus on stock-specific trading opportunities across sectors as the benchmark may continue to trade volatile in a range on Thursday due to scheduled weekly expiry. Needless to say, the bias is clearly on the positive side so traders should avoid contrarian trades in anticipation of a reversal.

Manish Shah, Founder, Niftytriggers.com

Nifty closed the day rather unchanged but the highlight of the day was a smart reversal from the low of the day. Nifty is now in a state of a sharp-up trend. Nifty is in a state of a strong uptrend because of a peculiar manner in which the moving averages are behaving. Nifty is in a sharp uptrend which means that one day decline is over and the market is likely to trade higher. We are looking at 15,775-15,800 and once we trade above 15,660, this could be achievable in the next couple of days. For tomorrow’s weekly expiry, we can target a rally to 15,690-15,725.

Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research  Analyst, HDFC Securities

The short term trend of Nifty continues to be positive. The lack of selling interest near the all-time highs with positive market breadth signal more upside in the short term. The upside target of Nifty remains intact at 15,800-15,900. Immediate support is now at 15,460