FIRST TRADE: Sensex falls over 150 points, Nifty below 24,500

Indian equities in Friday's session (December 13) opened lower even as the November retail inflation moderated to 5.5 per cent. Sensex at the start fell 0.19 per cent or 152.93 points to 81,137.03, while the Nifty index dropped 0.22 per cent or 53.6 points to 24,495.1.

Sectorally, all indices traded in the red barring the oil and gas pack, with the metal and realty indices leading losses.

Bank Nifty, meanwhile, traded weak with a drag of 0.2 per cent amid losses in heavyweight counters including HDFC Bank, SBI and Axis Bank among others.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities pointed out that in yesterday's trade, Nifty continued its bearish streak for the fifth consecutive day, weighed down by geopolitical risks in the Middle East, trade-war concerns, and rising US bond yields. 

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "In the near-term the market has a headwind and a tailwind. The headwind is the resumption of selling by the FIIs who sold stocks for Rs 3560 crores yesterday. Given the high valuations in India FIIs are likely to sell more at every market rise. Selling has been profitable for FIIs since the dollar has been appreciating after the US election. The tailwind which can support the market is the declining inflation."

Stocks in focus:

G R Infraprojects: The company has won a project worth Rs 108 crore in Karnataka. The stock last traded with gains of over 1 per cent at Rs 1,615.1 per share.

Tata Motors: The company has announced a hike of up to two per cent in the prices of its commercial vehicles with effect from January 1. the stock traded steady with a negative bias at Rs 784.85 per share.

Technical outlook

Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities said, Thursday was another down day on the Nifty with the market yet again failing to get past what is now undoubtedly a key near-term hurdle near 24700. Yesterday's drop had higher participation compared with what was seen the day before, which means market participants are nervous.""

The index is now sitting inside the 50- and the 100-day averages, with the former expected to offer support around 24430, a level that sits inside critical support that spans the 24360 and 24445 zone. Immediate support lies at 24500, which bulls will need to protect at least on a closing basis, he added.