The Indian market indices concluded the past week on a somber note, marking their fourth consecutive weekly decline. This ongoing slide in equity performance can be attributed to a combination of global and economic factors affecting the Indian landscape.
The key sectoral index, Nifty Bank, experienced a 0.5% dip on Friday, ultimately closing marginally lower by 0.09% or 40.3 points, settling at 43,851.05 levels for the session. This decline left constituent stocks with a mixed performance.
Throughout the week ending on August 18, the Nifty Bank index experienced a 0.8% drop, mirroring a 0.61% decline in the benchmark Nifty50 and a 0.57% decrease in the Sensex during the same period.
According to Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities, the Nifty Bank index has been consistently encountering resistance at the 44000 level, with the call side demonstrating the highest open interest.
Shah further noted that the lower end of the support range is visibly positioned around 43,600, coinciding with the presence of the 100-day moving average (DMA).
He cautioned, “If this support level is breached, it could trigger additional selling pressure in the market. A break on either side will lead to trending moves.”
On Friday, India’s largest small finance bank, AU Small Finance Bank, led the gains within the 12-scrip index, surging by an impressive 3% during the session and outperforming its peers on the index. It was closely followed by Bank of Baroda.
In contrast, the public sector lender Punjab National Bank found itself at the bottom of the Nifty Bank index’s performance list, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Additionally, Bank NIFTY Futures recorded a decline of 115.4 points or 0.26%, closing at 43,932 levels.
