Stock market holiday today: BSE, NSE to remain closed for Dussehra

Market activity on the NSE and BSE will resume on October 21 (Wednesday). Indian benchmark indices snapped their two-day winning streak and witnessed heavy selling on October 19, amid elevated crude oil prices, weak global cues and selling in private banking stocks following disappointing earnings. At close, the Sensex was down 876.37 points or 1.17 percent at 73,852.90, and the Nifty was down 257.20 points or 1.11 percent at 22,888.95.

The broader markets also remained under pressure with Nifty midcap and smallcap indices fell 1 percent each. Except PSU Bank (gained 2.2%), all other sectoral indices ended in the red with FMCG index down 1.2%, IT index down 1.3% and Private Bank index shed 1.8 percent. Among individual stocks, shares of HDFC Bank gained 2% after Q2 earnings, while Urban Company declined 9% after its Q2 consolidated loss widened.

"The benchmark indices witnessed profit booking at higher levels, with the Nifty ending 257  points lower and the Sensex down by 876  points. Among the sectors, the Private Bank Index lost the most, declining 1.85 percent, whereas the PSU Bank Index outperformed despite weak market sentiment, rallying 2.50 percent," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Neo. "Technically, after a muted opening, the market faced consistent selling pressure at higher levels throughout the day.

On the daily charts,  after a strong uptrend rally it has formed a long bearish candle, indicating temporary  weakness from the current levels." "For day traders, 23,050/74500 will act as a key trend level. As long as the market trades below this level, weak sentiment is likely to continue. On the downside, the market could retest the 22,750–22,700/73500-73300 zone. On the flip side, if the market moves above 23,050/74500, sentiment could improve, and it may rally towards 23,150–23,200/74800-75000," he added.

On Monday, the Indian rupee ended marginally higher at 94.92 per dollar, extending its winning streak to a seventh consecutive session, compared with the previous close of 94.95. “The Indian rupee extended its appreciation streak for the seventh consecutive session, closing marginally higher after surrendering most of its intraday gains,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities. “The recovery in crude oil prices and profit booking in domestic equities ahead of Tuesday’s market holiday limited the currency’s upside.

Meanwhile, RBI intervention and a stable US dollar provided support to the rupee.” “Technically, the spot USDINR is expected to find support at 94.70, while resistance is placed at 95.50,” he added.