L&T, Balkrishna Ind, Hindalco & IREDA: What Aditya Agarwal of Sanctum Wealth says on these 4 stocks

Aditya Agarwal, Head of Derivatives & Technical at Sanctum Wealth, on Friday said benchmark Nifty is trading near its strong resistance zone of 24,850-24,900. "We can see some minor profit booking but the overall structure is positive," the market expert told Business Today TV.

On the stock-specific front, Agarwal selected Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Ltd as one of his top picks for the day. "We are bullish on the counter. It has been trading in a range for the last couple of sessions. L&T may outperform and go towards Rs 3,730-3,740 levels. Keep stop loss placed at Rs 3,560 for this trade," he stated. L&T shares were last seen trading 0.25 per cent up at Rs 3,615.05.

The other stock which the market specialist preferred was Balkrishna Industries Ltd. "The stock is looking positive from a short- to medium-term perspective. Its has seen a sharp correction from Rs 3,400 to Rs 2,750-2,750 levels. We are seeing some short-covering signs for the last three to four sessions. One can buy at current levels for targets of Rs 2,940-2,970 levels with a stop loss of Rs 2,820," Agarwal said. Balkrishna Ind's stock edged 0.01 per cent up to trade at Rs 2,871.95.

When asked about Hindalco Industries Ltd shares, the market expert said, "We are witnessing some buying interest in the metal space. Hindalco is trading near its strong resistance zone of Rs 700. We can see some minor profit booking. This is not the time to add fresh long positions in Hindalco. One can enter it on dips around Rs 675-670 levels for a target of Rs 700. Keep a stop loss at Rs 660." Hindalco shares were up 1.02 per cent at Rs 692.50.

In response to a query on Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd, he said, "If we are looking for a short-term perspective, we can see some positive traction. The stock can move towards Rs 275-280-odd levels. Keep stop loss at Rs 252. From a broader view, I'm expecting more of time correction in this stock. It will continue to consolidate in a zone of Rs 230 on a lower side and Rs 285-290 on the higher side." IREDA' stock was up 0.95 per cent at Rs 259.60.

Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks were flat today as gains in automobile stocks countered losses in IT stocks. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were down.

13 out of the 16 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT was underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.66 per cent. In contrast, Nifty Auto rose 0.89 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, Grasim Industries was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 1.43 per cent to trade at Rs 2,715.75. LTIMindtree, Titan, Wipro and Asian Paints fell up to 1.15 per cent.

In contrast, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp and Hindalco were the top gainers on Nifty50.

The overall market breadth was, however, strong as 2,160 shares were advancing while 1,486 were declining on BSE.