- by Sanjana Rajpal
- 21st Aug 2020
A long position to be avoided by traders as Nifty registered a Doji Formation
On Thursday, 20 August 2020, Indian markets got off to a shaky start and ended in the red, tracking weakness in global markets on August 20. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 394 points to 38,220 while the Nifty50 closed the day 96 points lower at 11,312.
The Bank Nifty opened negative at 21,989.90 and it drifted lower to hit the day's low of 21,886.70. However, it remained consolidative and hovered near 22,000 for the most part of the session.
The minutes of the Fed Reserve meeting that were shared on August 19 expressed concern over recovery and said the coronavirus would weigh heavily on the US economy.
Sector-wise performance
If you talk about sector-wise performance, the top sectors which benefited in today’s market stand to be utilities, power, infrastructure, and metal stocks, while in sectors like telecom, banks, finance, and energy space profit-taking was seen.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE midcap index was up 0.8 percent while the smallcap index closed with gains of 0.7
Top Nifty gainers included Coal India, ONGC and NTPC.
Top Nifty losers included Wipro, Axis Bank, and Tata Motors.
Stocks of the day
If talking about the stock sector-wise, the S&P BSE utility index was up 4.2 percent followed by the power index that was up 4.1 percent, and the infrastructure index closed with gains of 1.8 percent.
Profit-taking was visible in the telecom index that was down 1.7 percent followed by the Bankex that fell 1.3 percent and the energy index was down 1.07 percent.
A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in stocks like ONGC, NTPC, and Torrent Power.
The stocks like Torrent Power, JSW Steel, and ZEE Entertainment showed Long buildup.
The stocks like IndusInd Bank, Muthoot Finance, and ICICI Bank showed the short buildup.
More than 150 stocks on the BSE including Atul, Astec Lifesciences, Tata Communications, and JB Chemicals hit a fresh 52-week high.
Commodity market
Gold prices declined Rs 1,075 to 52,319 per 10 gram in the Mumbai market on a strong dollar and weak global cues. Prices slipped after the US Federal Reserve warned that economic recovery faced an uncertain path.
Copper prices edged lower to Rs 527.60 per kg as participants increased their short position as seen by the open interest. Copper prices declined on gains in the US dollar and escalating tensions between the US and China.
Cotton futures rose to Rs 16,620 per bale as participants widened their long positions. Cotton futures on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) settled with a gain of 0.4 percent on August 19, tracking recovery in international benchmark cotton contracts.
Crude oil futures edged lower to Rs 3,209 per barrel on August 20 as participants increased their short positions. Prices slipped on a gloomy outlook by the US Federal Reserve and less-than-anticipated decline in US crude inventory
