Taking Stock: Nifty reclaims 23,000, Sensex gains 308 points led by IT, pharma stocks

At close, the Sensex was up 308.49 points or 0.42 percent at 74,459.53, and the Nifty was up 116.35 points or 0.51 percent at 23,053.10. For the week, BSE Sensex and Nifty50 rose nearly 2 percent each. The broader indices underperformed the main indices with Nifty midcap index falling 0.8 percent and smallcap index declining 1.8 percent. In this week, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices jumped 2.5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

Trent, Interglobe Aviation, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Sun Pharma were among top gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Adani Ports, Shriram Finance, Adani Enterprises, M&M, Coal India. Among sectors, IT index gained 2.3%, Pharma index up 1.8%, while consumer durables, PSU Bank, energy, media down more than 1 percent each, while auto, Nifty Bank, FMCG, metal, realty down 0.5% each. Among individual stocks, Vedanta Oil and Gas share price gained 7 percent on posting profit in Q2, share price of MTAR Technologies shed 4 percent even Q2 profit increased 19%.

Borosil share price gained 20 percent on strong earnings and Indostar Capital share price shed 3 percent despite better numbers. Among other stocks, Paradeep Phosphates share price declined 7% after falls 69 percent, shares of Trent surged 5 percent post strong earnings, InterGlobe Aviation shares rose 4 percent as Q2 losses narrowed, Godrej Consumer Products shares shed 2 percent even profit surge.

Vedanta Power share price gained nearly 14 percent on turning profitable, and Suzlon Energy fell 8 percent as Q2 profit sank 69.2%. Indian rupee snapped two-day losing streak and ended higher at 94.95on Friday, compared with previous close of 95.25. Nearly 250 stocks touched 52-week low, including Suzlon Energy, GMDC, Inox Wind, JSW Dulux, Dalmia Bharat, DCM Shriram, Sumitomo Chemical India, Max Financial Services, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Godrej Consumer Products, Emami, Swan Corp, Finolex Industries, EID Parry, JBM Auto, MedPlus Health Services, Latent View Analytics, Vishal Mega Mart, Supreme Industries and Atul., among others.

Click to View More On the other hand, more than 80 stocks touched 52-week high, including Laurus Labs, Ather Energy, Zydus Lifesciences, Coforge, Piramal Pharma, Eternal, Indian Hotels, Sona BLW Precision Forgings, PVR INOX, Kotak Mahindra Bank, FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) and IGIL, among others. Click to View More Outlook for November 2 Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

After showing sharp upside breakout on Thursday, Nifty continued with upside momentum on Friday and closed the day higher by 115 points. A reasonable positive candle was formed on the daily chart which signals follow-through buying in the market after a decisive breakout. Nifty on the weekly chart formed a long bull candle that was a part of long alternative candles of bull and bear of three weeks at the crucial medium term trend line support.

Nifty is now nearing an important overhead resistance around 23200 levels (key resistance as per change in polarity). Hence, there is a possibility of consolidation or minor dip from the highs in early next week before surging higher. However, a decisive breakout of 23200 could pull Nifty towards 23500-23600 levels in a quick period of time. Any correction from highs could find support around 22800.

Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities After a few sessions of consolidation, Nifty witnessed a breakout on Thursday, closing above the crucial 22,800 level and decisively reclaiming its 20-DMA. The RSI has also entered a bullish crossover, indicating improving momentum. On the 3-hour chart, a symmetrical triangle pattern is developing, with a breakout above 23,250 required for confirmation.

The short-term outlook remains positive as long as the index sustains above 22,800. Traders can consider booking partial profits near 23,250 while holding the remaining long positions with a trailing stop-loss of 22,950.