Indian benchmark indices opened on a weak note on Friday and remained in a narrow range through the session, as muted participation and continued profit booking kept sentiment under pressure.
The NSE Nifty 50 declined 29.85 points, or 0.12%, to settle at 24,366, while the Sensex fell 70.71 points, or 0.09%, to close at 78,009.
"NIFTY is likely to remain range-bound with a mildly constructive bias, client SSF longs continued to rise for two weeks however, FII participation turned mute after initial Index based short covering. The index has held above the 24,000–24,200 zone through most of the results season, making 24,000 a key downside support," said Kruti Shah, analyst at Equirus Securities.
The 24,000–24,200 zone remains crucial for the index on the downside. Holding this area could help maintain the mildly constructive bias, while a decisive break below 24,000 could weaken the near-term setup. On the upside, traders will watch for the index to break its recent sequence of lower highs and lower lows. A sustained move above the recent resistance levels could signal a resumption of the broader uptrend.
According to Bajaj Broking Research, the index formed a doji candle with a lower high and a lower low, signalling consolidation with a corrective bias around the 20-day EMA.
"Nifty is forming lower high and lower low in the last 6 sessions, index need to break the sequence and start forming higher high and higher low in the daily chart to signal resumption of the up move," the brokerage said.
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Nifty Bank Outlook
Bank Nifty shrugged off its initial weakness and moved higher during the session but faced resistance around 57,681 before drifting lower again to hit an intraday low of 57,380. On the daily chart, the index formed a small-bodied candle with wicks on either side, indicating indecision among market participants. Momentum indicators also point towards a lack of a clear directional trend.
"A flat RSI and ADX suggest a lack of strong directional momentum & volatility, indicating that the index continues to remain in a phase of consolidation," said Sudeep Shah, head of technical and derivatives research at SBI Securities.
Going ahead, the immediate resistance for Bank Nifty is placed in the 57,900–58,000 zone. A sustained move above this range could strengthen the recovery and take the index towards 58,400, followed by 58,800 in the short term.
On the downside, the immediate support is placed in the 57,100–57,000 zone.
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