Bulls vs Bears: Here's what to expect on Dalal Street today

Benchmark indices ended higher on Thursday, snapping two straight sessions of losses. Sensex rose 436 points to 55,818 and Nifty closed 105 points higher at 16,628.  Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, TCS, Asian Paints, Infosys and IndusInd Bank were among the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 3.51 percent.

HDFC, Hindustan Unilever, PowerGrid and HDFC Bank were among the biggest Sensex losers, falling up to 1.69 per cent.

Market cap of BSE-listed firms rose to Rs 259.04 lakh crore on Thursday against 257.02 lakh crore market cap in the previous session.

Market breadth was positive with 1,970 shares ending higher against 1339 stocks falling on BSE. 135 shares were unchanged.

Here's a look at what experts said about the direction the market is likely to take today.

Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said,"On the technical front, the key resistance levels for Nifty50 are 16700 and on the downside 16400 can act as strong support. Key resistance and support levels for Bank Nifty are 36200 and 35000 respectively."

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities said, "A promising reversal formation on intraday charts and a long bullish candle on daily charts is indicating further uptrend from the current levels. For day traders, 16,550 would act as a trend decider level, above which the Nifty could rally till 16720. In case of any further upside, the index could rally up to 16800. On the flip side, below 16550, uptrend would be vulnerable and could falter up to 16450.”

Vinod Nair, Head Of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "The bounce in the market is showing signs of getting extended further supported by mid and small-cap. High-frequency data like GST collection and PMI have shown a good start to FY23. Crude prices have declined providing an edge to the performance of the Indian market. However, a lot will depend on central bank’s policy in India & US, which will be announced in the next two weeks."