10 things that will decide D-Street action on Friday

The Indian market ended marginally higher on Thursday, paring early losses as buying picked up in the final hour of trade on the weekly expiry of Nifty derivatives. Sentiment recovered after brokerages said the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt move to double tariffs on Indian exports would be limited, suggesting limited fallout for the listed universe and hinting that there was still room for negotiations before the August 27 deadline.

The BSE Sensex, which had slipped as much as 0.9% intraday to a low of 79,811.29, clawed back to close 79.27 points, or 0.1%, higher at 80,623.26. The NSE Nifty, after dipping to 24,344.15 during the session, rebounded to end at 24,596.15, up 21.95 points, or 0.09%. The late-day turnaround mirrored trends seen in recent weekly expiries.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse:
Domestic equities recovered sharply from the intraday lows amid a volatile weekly expiry day, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, adding that "although the earlier trade was weighed down by broad-based selling following steep U.S. tariff hikes on India, sentiment improved toward the close as reports of potential peace talks involving Trump, Putin, and Zelensky which raised hopes of a softer US stance on trade."

This renewed optimism triggered a strong rebound in the auto, pharma, metals, and energy sectors and aided the market in recalling its trajectory and concluding in the green, said Nair.

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US markets
US stocks drifted lower on Wall Street Thursday after President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs took effect on dozens of countries.

Worries are still high that Trump’s tariffs are damaging the economy, particularly after last week’s worse-than-expected report on the job market. But hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a torrent of stronger-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies are helping offset the concerns, at least for now. Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher.

European Markets
European shares logged their biggest daily rise in over two weeks on Thursday, boosted by financial stocks as investors weighed mixed corporate earnings, U.S. tariffs and a potential breakthrough to end the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.9% at a one-week high, with the European banks index climbing 2% to its highest level since 2010 and the insurance index up 1.6% to a record high.

The Bank of England cut interest rates but four of its nine policymakers, worried about inflation, voted to keep rates unchanged.

Financial stocks have rallied in recent weeks as investors look for areas of the market less exposed to trade uncertainty. U.S. President Donald Trump's higher import duties on many trade partners took effect on Thursday. Negotiations remain underway with Switzerland, which faces a 39% import levy that is likely to inflict serious damage on its export-focused economy. Swiss stocks settled 0.8% higher, with pharma companies Roche and Novartis both rising as the sector is currently spared from the higher tariffs. Also aiding the upbeat mood, the Kremlin said Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet in coming days, raising expectations of a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.

Tech View
The Nifty witnessed a roller-coaster session as the index oscillated between 24,350 and 24,650, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that although the index briefly fell below 24,400, it did not sustain at lower levels and recovered smartly in the second half, closing near 24,600.

“In the short term, the index may continue to recover; however, immediate resistance is seen at 24,660. A decisive move above this level could take the index towards 24,850. On the downside, support is placed at 24,400 on a closing or sustained basis," said De.

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Most active stocks in terms of turnover
Eternal (Rs 11,475 crore), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 2,867 crore), Infosys (Rs 1,413 crore), RIL (Rs 1,378 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,299 crore), Trent (Rs 1,223 crore) and BSE (Rs 1,099 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
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 28.18 crore), Eternal (Traded shares: 39.15 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 7.55 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 5.62 crore), Sagility India (Traded shares: 4.28 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 3.74 crore) and BHEL (Traded shares: 3.29 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest
Shares of ITI Ltd, Caplin Point, Kajaria Ceramic, Firstsource, Kirloskar Brothers, Lupin and Gujarat Mineral Development were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

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52 Week high
Over 111 stocks hit their 52 week highs today while 161 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows.

Stocks seeing selling pressure
Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Godfrey Philips, GNFC, Bayer Cropscience, BHEL, Reliance Power, SKF India and EID Parry.

Sentiment meter bearish
The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,191 stocks that traded on the BSE on Thursday, 2,297 stocks witnessed declines, 1,751 saw advances, while 143 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)