Domestic benchmark equity indices Nifty50 and Sensex closed with fresh record highs on Friday, as faster-than-expected domestic economic growth and in-line US inflation data boosted investors’ sentiment.

On the day, Nifty50 rose 1.62% to close at 22,339, notching record highs for the eleventh session in 2024. The Sensex also hit an all-time high and added 1.72% to 73,745.

The rally came after the Indian economy grew 8.4% in the October-December quarter, the fastest pace in six quarters, according to data released on Thursday.

Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:

“On the daily charts, we can observe that Nifty has broken out of a Running Triangle pattern indicating the start of a fresh leg of upmove. The daily Bollinger bands have begun to expand and with prices trading along the upper band indicating that there could be sharp trending moves on the upside. We expect Nifty to target levels of 23000 – 23100 from a short term perspective. On the downside the zone of 21900 – 21860 shall now act as a crucial support zone and a breach below it shall lead to a trend reversal,” said Jatin Gedia, Sharekhan.

Tejas Shah, Technical Research at JM Financial & BlinkX, said, “Nifty closed above the crucial resistance zone of 22,250-300 levels on the weekly closing basis and we believe that as long as Nifty is holding above 22,000 mark, the rally is likely to continue and it can test the next resistance zone of 22,450-500 on an immediate basis and eventually Nifty can test level of 22,700 on the higher side.”

That said, here’s a look at what some key indicators are suggesting for Saturday’s action:

US stocks

US stocks struggled for direction on Friday as investors took a breather after the previous session’s rally, driven by an inflation reading that strengthened bets of interest rate cuts by June, and a persistent artificial-intelligence mania.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a record high on Thursday, spurred by gains in AI-linked stocks such as heavyweight chip designer Nvidia and its rival Advanced Micro Devices, which hit an all-time peak.

At 9:43 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 59.09 points, or 0.15%, at 38,937.30, the S&P 500 was up 2.93 points, or 0.06%, at 5,099.20, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 33.66 points, or 0.21%, at 16,125.58.

The S&P 500 energy sector was the top sectoral performer with a 1.1% rise, as crude prices got a lift. “Now that we’ve gotten through the PCE (report), investors are willing to sit on the sidelines a little bit today,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist for Murphy & Sylvest.

European shares

European shares kicked off the month higher on Friday, buoyed by strength in global stocks after favourable U.S. inflation data and upbeat earnings, while investors looked ahead to euro zone inflation data for fresh clues on monetary policy easing.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.5% by 9:34 GMT, within a whisker of a record high, tracking strength in global equities. However, the benchmark index remained set for its first weekly decline in six.

Germany’s DAX climbed 0.6%, scaling record highs for the seventh consecutive session.

The European technology index added 0.8%, drawing support from a boost in AI-linked tech stocks across the globe.

Tech View: Bullish Marubozu candle

Nifty on Friday ended the first trading session of the March series 366 points higher above the 22,300 level at fresh record highs and formed a bullish Marubozu candle on the charts.

“The Index broke out of a two-month consolidation zone and such volatility contraction is usually followed by a strong rally. The 61.8% Fibonacci projection level from the start of Nifty’s rally since October is at 23,200. If the breakout is sustained a quick march towards 23,000 can be expected. The demand zone has now shifted upwards to 22,200 – 22,250, which is expected to act as support for Nifty,” said Sheersham Gupta, director and senior technical analyst at Rupeezy.

Stocks showing bullish bias

Momentum indicator Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) showed bullish trade on the counters of Ingersoll-Rand, ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems, CE Info Systems, Coromandel International, Eris Lifesciences, and Firstsource among others.

The MACD is known for signalling trend reversals in traded securities or indices. When the MACD crosses above the signal line, it gives a bullish signal, indicating that the price of the security may see an upward movement and vice versa.

Stocks signalling weakness ahead

The MACD showed bearish signs on the counters of Suven Pharma, Poly Medicure, Century Textiles, Tata Chemicals, Blue Star, and Maruti Suzuki among others. A bearish crossover on the MACD on these counters indicated that they had just begun their downward journey.

Most active stocks in value terms

HDFC Bank (Rs 2,465 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 1,829 crore), RIL (Rs 1,799 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,609 crore), L&T (Rs 1,584 crore), SBI (Rs 1,324 crore), and Infosys (Rs 1,062 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity on a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Tata Steel (Shares traded: 12.3 crore), HDFC Bank (Shares traded: 1.7 crore), SBI (Shares traded: 1.7 crore), Power Grid (Shares traded: 1.5 crore), ICICI Bank (Shares traded: 1.5 crore), NTPC (Shares traded: 1.3 crore), and ONGC (Shares traded: 1.3 crore) were among the most traded stocks in the session on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Shares of Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Grasim Industries, Tata Motors, RIL, M&M, and Adani Enterprises, among others, witnessed strong buying interest from market participants as they scaled their fresh 52-week highs, signalling bullish sentiment.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Shares of KRBL, and Star Health hit their 52-week lows, signaling bearish sentiment on the counters.

Sentiment meter favours bulls

Overall, the market breadth favoured bulls as 2,366 stocks ended in the green, while 1,489 names settled in the red.

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