Kiran Jani, Head of Technical Research at Jainam Broking, on Wednesday advised investors to adopt a "sell-on-rise" approach in the near term. Whenever the market faces such situations, we've seen FMCG and pharma sectors become defensive, the market expert told Business Today TV.
On the stock-specific front, Jani selected Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) shares of one of his top picks for the day. "We're expecting HUL to give some fair amount of upside. One can buy the stock at the current market price for an expected target of 2,800. Keep a strict stop loss placed at Rs 2,710 for this trade," he stated. HUL shares were last seen trading 0.83 per cent down at Rs 2,718.
The other stock which Jani preferred was Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) Ltd. "The stock price is trading near all-time high levels. Investors can consider buying MCX shares for a potential target of Rs 4,400 with a stop loss of Rs 4,310," he said. MCX was down 0.08 per cent at Rs 4,356.35.
When asked about HDFC Bank Ltd shares, Jani said support on the counter will be at Rs 1,600. "If it slips below Rs 1,600, then the stock may see price corrections towards Rs 1,560-1,550 levels. Those holding HDFC Bank should keep a strict stop loss of Rs 1,600 and wait for a dip around Rs 1,560-1,550 levels to accumulate more. Fresh buying is not advised at current levels," he suggested. HDFC Bank shares edged 0.07 per cent up to trade at Rs 1,604.70.
Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks were trading slightly higher today in a volatile session as gains in IT stocks countered losses in metals. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were negative.
14 out of the 16 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Metal, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Pharma were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 1.12 per cent, 0.34 per cent and 0.33 per cent. In contrast, Nifty IT and Nifty Auto rose 0.98 per cent and 0.37 per cent, respectively.
That said, Apollo Hospitals was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock jumped 3.63 per cent to trade at Rs 6,828.7. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), M&M, Tech Mahindra and HCLTech climbed up to 2.06 per cent.
On the flipside, Divi's Labs, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports and JSW Steel were the top losers on Nifty50.
However, the overall market breadth was weak as 2,253 shares were declining while 1,413 were advancing on BSE.