MUMBAI, 22 MAY, 2020 (GPN/  By Mr. Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd.) :

Markets traded range-bound in the final session and settled with a cut of over half a percent. The RBI’s meet was the highlight of the day wherein the apex bank has several measures to support the economy however it failed to cheer the market participants. Further, weak global cues were also weighing on the sentiments. Finally, the Nifty index ended lower by 0.6% to close at 9,039 levels. Again, sharp cut in the banking and financial pushed the bulls completely on the back foot. However, defensive viz. healthcare and IT managed to buck the trend.

Markets were hoping some measure from the RBI that could boost the banking and financial sectors but the announcement of the extension of moratorium further dented the sentiment. The brewing feud between US-China is further also adding to the participants’ worries. We may see some rebound next week due to oversold positions in banking and financial space but sustainability would be difficult at the higher levels. Traders should prefer hedged trades and prefer defensive viz. pharma, IT and select FMCG for long trades. ENDS