The equity market is likely to open lower, consolidating further amid negative global cues. SGX Nifty at around 16,470 (7 am), down over 200 points from its previous close points to a gap-down opening for the market.
Global equities witnessed a sell-off as investors remained concerned regarding the impact of hikes in interest rates on growth and rising inflation concerns. Wall Street edged lower after a significant rally with tech-heavy Nasdaq falling 5 per cent. S&P 500 fell nearly 4 per cent, while the Dow was down over 3 per cent. Asian markets also fell during the morning trade, taking cues from the US and European markets.
A sharp rise in treasury yields also impacted investor sentiments.
Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd said, “Investors are likely to feel the heat in the short-term as central banks across the globe are trying to curb inflation by hiking interest rates.”
On the domestic front, according to Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, “The early momentum failed to sustain as investors turned risk averse amid worries of high inflation and prospects of more rate cuts that will slow growth going ahead. Another factor is investors are pulling out funds from secondary markets and infusing in the ongoing LIC IPO.”
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries is set to report earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 later in the day.
Technical outlook
Ruchit Jain, Lead- Research, 5paisa.com said, “The short-term trend continues to remain negative and in such a scenario, the pullback moves are likely to witness selling pressure. The intraday supports for Nifty are placed around 16574 and 16465, whereas resistances are seen around 17760 and 16870.”
“Technically, Nifty has to defend 16597 support and below the same, the next key level to watch is 15901 mark. Below 16597, expect a waterfall of selling up to 15900-15921 mark,” as per Tapse.
FII selling activity
According to NSE provisional data, foreign outflows continued with foreign institutional investors net selling shares worth ₹2074.74 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors net bought shares worth ₹2229.31 crore.