Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Wednesday

The Indian market ended in the red on Tuesday, pressured by financial and oil & gas stocks, as investors turned cautious and booked profits after the previous session’s sharp rally, amid rising geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran.

The BSE Sensex shed 212.85 points, or 0.26%, to close at 81,583.30, while the NSE Nifty declined 93.10 points, or 0.37%, to settle at 24,853.40.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse:

The benchmark equity index experienced moderate losses amid rising risk of an escalation of conflicts in the Middle East ahead of the FOMC meeting, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that "this uncertainty pushed Brent crude prices higher—an unfavourable development for India, given its heavy reliance on oil imports, thereby dampening earnings growth."

"In the broader market, key sectors such as auto and metals came under selling pressure. Meanwhile, the IT sector witnessed rebalancing, influenced by a strengthening U.S. dollar and anticipation surrounding the Fed’s upcoming interest rate decisions," said Nair.

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US markets

Wall Street's main indexes slipped on Tuesday as the Israel-Iran conflict entered its fifth day, denting global investor confidence ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy decision.

Iran and Israel's air war, which began on Friday when Israel attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, has raised concerns that the conflict could create bottlenecks for oil exports from the oil-rich Middle East.

U.S. energy stocks rose as oil prices remained elevated on the uncertainty. Chevron was up 1.8% and Exxon advanced 1.7%.

The surge in oil prices comes ahead of the Fed's monetary policy decision on Wednesday, when policymakers are widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

European Markets

Stocks in Europe sagged, leaving the STOXX 600 down almost 1% on the day and around its lowest in three weeks, while German government bond yields held steady.

Tech View

The Nifty faced resistance around 25,000, leading to a correction to the support level of 24,850, while on the hourly timeframe, the index continues to trade above the 200-DMA, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that the RSI, however, is showing a bearish trend on both the daily and hourly charts, indicating weak momentum in the near term.

“With conflicting technical signals and investors awaiting the outcome of the Fed policy meeting, we expect rangebound movement in the immediate term. A decisive break below 24,850 could trigger further bearishness, while on the higher side, 25,000 is likely to remain a strong resistance," said De.

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Most active stocks in terms of turnover

Vishal Mega Mart (Rs 13,352 crore), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (Rs 2,256 crore), BSE (Rs 1,651 crore), Happiest Minds (Rs 1,646 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,636 crore), Reliance Industries Ltd (Rs 1,485 crore) and Infosys (Rs 1,248 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Vishal Mega Mart (Traded shares: 116.13 crore), Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 26.41 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 10.69 crore), Sagility India (Traded shares: 8.35 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 6.23 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 5.11 crore) and Zee Entertainment (Traded shares: 4.95 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Shares of Happiest Minds Technologies, Inventurus Knowledge Solutions, Hitachi Energy, MMTC, Crisil, Nuvama Wealth Management and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52 Week high

Over 79 stocks hit their 52 week highs today while 48 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were SCI, Jubilant Ingrevia, Hindustan Zinc, Reliance Power, Tata Teleservices, Wockhardt and Sona BLW Precision Forgings.

Sentiment meter bearish

The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,118 stocks that traded on the BSE on Tuesday, 2,540 stocks witnessed declines, 1,447 saw advances, while 131 stocks remained unchanged.

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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)