Ahead of the market: 10 things that will determine stock market action on Monday

The Indian market on Friday closed flat with a slight negative bias, with the Sensex and Nifty swinging between the red and the green as investors booked profits near record levels and gauged expectations of possible interest rate cuts in the US and India along with upcoming domestic growth signals.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 13.7 points, or 0.02 percent, to 85,706.67, while the NSE Nifty 50 shed 12.6 points, or 0.05 percent, to 26,202.95. Both the benchmarks traded in a narrow range throughout the day after touching fresh record highs in the previous session.

Here’s how analysts read the pulse of the market:
Indian equities remained resilient despite selective profit booking emerging in the broader market after the recent rally, said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, adding that sentiment was supported by progress in India-US trade talks, while strong performance in large-cap sectors such as auto, financials and pharma helped maintain positive momentum.

“Supportive global cues, including a sustained technology-driven rally and rising expectations of a Fed rate cut, bolstered investor confidence. With Q2 GDP and IIP data due soon, the overall outlook remains constructive, and prints are expected to warrant an improving macro trend,” Nair said.

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US markets

Wall Street ended on a positive note on Friday (Nov 28), with major indexes extending their gains for a fifth consecutive session, even as the Nasdaq Composite ended the month lower. In brief post-Thanksgiving trading, the Nasdaq rose 0.65 percent to 23,365.69, the S&P 500 gained 0.54 percent to 6,849.09 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 289.30 points, or 4.7 percent, at 416.7.

Optimism improved as investors grew more confident that the Federal Reserve could move to cut interest rates in the near future.

European markets
European shares ended higher on Friday, closing a strong week and month on optimism over a possible US rate cut. The STOXX 600 posted its longest winning streak since March 2024, with sentiment improving during the month despite concerns about the start of an AI-driven sell-off.

Focus now turned to Russia-Ukraine peace talks, which supported broader sentiment but hurt aerospace and defense stocks. Global futures trading resumes after major CME outage.

Tech View
Vatsal Bhuva, technical analyst at LKP Securities, said the Nifty closed the week by forming a small candlestick on the weekly chart, indicating hesitation at higher levels, adding that on the hourly chart, the RSI has turned to a bearish crossover with a lower top, suggesting that the bulls may take a breather at this level.

“However, support appears at 26100 and 26000, while resistance is placed at 26300. Technical setup suggests that the index may trade in a range with immediate support at 26100 and resistance around 26300 to 26350 levels,” Bhuva said.

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Most active stocks in terms of turnover
HDFC Bank (Rs 1,613 crore), RIL (Rs 1,408 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,319 crore), Welspun India (Rs 1,202 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 1,104 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,068 crore) and GAIL (Rs 1,409 crore) were the most active stocks. Terms of value. High activity in terms of value can help identify counters with the highest trading turnover during the day.

Most active stocks in terms of volume
Vodafone Idea (shares traded: 45.6 crore), JP Power (shares traded: 18.4 crore), Welspun India (shares traded: 8.2 crore), Yes Bank (shares traded: 7.2 crore), GAIL (shares traded: 6 crore), Suzlon Energy (shares traded: 18.4 crore) and Power 5 crore shares (3.92 crore) was one of the most actively traded stocks in terms of volume on the NSE.

Stocks show interest in buying
Shares of Welspun India, Newland Labs, IPCA Labs, Advent Hotels International, Reliance Infrastructure, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and KSB witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

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52 week high
Over 117 stocks touched their 52-week highs today, while 161 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Adani Ports SEZ, Tata Motors CV and RIL hit their 52-week highs.

Selling pressure is seen in stocks
Significant selling pressure was seen from Power Grid, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India and Infosys.

Sentiment Meter Neutral
Market sentiment was neutral. Out of 4,312 stocks traded on BSE on Friday, 2,128 stocks declined, 2,019 stocks gained, while 165 stocks remained unchanged.

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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)