Stocks to buy | Sumeet Bagadia's stock recommendations: The Indian stock market endured a challenging, holiday-shortened week, with benchmark indices extending their losses as inflation concerns intensified following a fresh surge in crude oil prices. The Nifty 50 index crashed from 23,146 to 22,600, logging a weekly loss of 546 points or 2.36%. The BSE Sensex nosedived from 74,729 to 73,123, clocking a weekly loss of 1,606 points or 2.15%. Likewise, the Bank Nifty index slid from 55,844 to 54,287, registering a 1,557-point, or 2.79%, loss on a weekly basis.
The broader market took the brunt of the de-risking, as valuation concerns and the unwinding of leveraged positions triggered a disproportionately sharp correction in mid- and small-caps, while large-caps held up comparatively better.
Across sectors, IT was the lone pocket of resilience, recovering from early selling to end the week largely unchanged on improving earnings visibility and renewed investor appetite. However, rate-sensitive sectors such as consumer durables, metals and realty saw the heaviest selling as input-cost and margin worries resurfaced.
Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking, believes the near-term bias of the Indian stock market remains cautious unless the Nifty 50 index reclaims its immediate resistance zone, which is 22,750 to 22,800.
On the Nifty 50 prediction for Monday, the Choice Broking expert said, the 50-stock index closed at 22,600.00, declining 87.65 points (-0.39%), after a sharp intraday fall to 22,372.00 triggered buying interest and a recovery of nearly 200 points. However, the index failed to turn positive, indicating persistent selling pressure at higher levels. The daily candle’s long lower wick signals demand at lower levels, but the broader structure remains weak below the 50-day EMA near 23,229.