Bulls vs Bears: Here's what to expect on Dalal Street today

Benchmark indices snapped four-day gaining streak on Wednesday, led by weak global cues. Sensex fell 224 points to close at 60,346 and Nifty declined 66 points to settle at 18,003. The market recovered from morning lows due to heavy buying in banking stocks. Sensex crashed 1,154 points to 59,417 and Nifty slipped 299 points to 17,771 in early trade.
 
IT, capital goods and consumer durables shares were the top sectoral losers with their BSE indices falling 976 points, 279 points and 243 points, respectively.
 
Banking stocks were the major sectoral gainers with their BSE index rising 600 points to 47,371. Market breadth was negative with 1,685 stocks ending higher against 1,789 stocks falling on BSE, while 137 shares were unchanged.
 
Here's a look at what analysts said about the direction the market is likely to take today:
 
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities
 
"On daily charts, the Nifty has formed a bullish candle but at the same time it is consistently facing resistance near the 18,100 level. For the bulls, 17,900 would be the key support level, and if the index sustains above the same it could move up to 18,100- 18,150 levels. On the flip side, a fresh round of selling could be seen only at 17,900 and below the same the index could retest the level of 17,750-17,700."
 
Om Mehra, Technical Associate, Choice Broking
 
"Nifty is likely to continue its rally once it sustains 18,150, else profit booking is expected from higher levels in the next couple of days. On the derivatives front, the highest call OI is at 18,200 strike price while on the put side, highest OI remains at 17,800 strike price. On the other hand, bank Nifty has support at 40,500 levels while resistance is at 42,300 levels. For the short-to-medium term, PSU banks could deliver decent returns."
 
Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities
 
"The biggest catalysts and next direction for Nifty depends on the FOMC monetary policy meeting on September 20-21. For Thursday’s session, Nifty sees major hurdles at the 18,115 mark. Above the same, aggressive buying could be seen with the next goal post at the psychological 18,605 mark."

Also read: Sensex, Nifty snap four-day gaining streak: Here's a look at top losers today