Markets end lower; Sensex ends points lower; Nifty settles below 17,300

18 Feb 2022 , 03:30 PM

Markets continued their negative momentum during the week as across the selling pressure weighed in. Bank Nifty index underperformed the Nifty index by ~2% with both the indices closing ~2.5%/0.6% lower on weekly basis. Both the indices added fresh short positions throughout the week as the open positions surged higher along with a falling underlying price.

Financial stocks continued their downward momentum with stocks like ICICI Bank & SBI adding fresh short positions.

The Nifty settled with a 0.16% loss at 17,276.30, while the Sensex dropped 60 points at 57,832.97. Realty, oil & gas, Pharma, media declined, while banking and financial shares settled with marginal gains. 

Coal India, SBI Life, Bajaj Auto and HDFC closed higher, whereas ONGC, Divis Laboratories, Cipla Ultratech Cement and Mahindra & Mahindra ended lower. 

FIIs index futures long/short for the February series trended marginally high, in the favour of the bulls.

On the options front (February 24, 2021 expiry), the Nifty 17500CE strike price has witnessed fresh writing, hinting at a formation of a ceiling level for the index around the mentioned strikes in the coming days.