Short positions of FIIs intact, 19500-19550 immediate hurdle

After the Diwali special Muhurat Trading session on Sunday, our markets started the week on a negative note but it traded within a narrow range throughout the day and ended just below 19450 with a loss of less than half a percent.

Our markets rallied higher in the Muhurat Trading session, but it approached the resistance zone of 19500-19550 which is a crucial hurdle for the Nifty. In this zone, a falling trendline resistance is seen along with the 50 percent retracement level of the recent corrective phase from the highs. Also, the 19500 call option has seen significant open interest addition and FIIs still hold significant short positions and are reluctant to cover those positions. Hence, all these parameters hint that it will not be easy for the bulls to surpass the hurdle of 19550 and only a breakout above this should lead to further momentum toward 19700. On the flip side, 19330 is the immediate support for the Nifty. Until we see a breakout in Nifty above the mentioned resistance, traders should look for stock-specific opportunities as the broader markets have been doing well, but avoid aggressive buying.