Equity benchmarks ended 0.4 percent lower on August 31, with negative market breadth. According to reports from Moneycontrol, about 2,078 shares declined compared with 1,160 advancing shares on the NSE. The midday session revealed 0.29 advance-decline ratio with 38 declining constituents and -0.64% equal-weighted change, indicating that selling pressure was spread across many constituents rather than concentrated in a few stocks.
The session showed clear sectoral divergence with Finance emerging as the weakest multi-stock group, down 1.40% as all four constituents declined. Bajaj Finance lost 1.72%, Shriram Finance declined 1.33%, Bajaj Finserv fell 1.23% and Jio Financial Services was down 0.48%. Metal-linked stocks also weighed on the session, with Iron and Steel falling 1.73% as Tata Steel declined 2.18% and JSW Steel lost 1.41%. Hindalco was down 2.13% in Non-Ferrous Metals. Trading and logistics were also weak, led by Adani Enterprises at -2.81% and Adani Ports at -1.46%.
Mehul Kothari, VP – Technical Research at Anand Rathi recommends several stocks for short-term trading opportunities. Hindustan Copper (CMP: ₹525.35) shows strong recovery from the ₹480–500 zone with RSI at 50.15 indicating healthy momentum reset. Sagility (CMP: ₹47.05) has formed a strong base around ₹40–42 zone and broken out of consolidation with RSI at 68.32 reflecting strong momentum.
Jay Thakkar, Vice President & Head of Derivatives and Quant Research at ICICI Securities highlights Axis Bank (CMP: ₹1,300) as a potential buy opportunity. According to his analysis, the stock has taken support near ₹1,200-1,220 range with short covering witnessed in recent bounce back. The Nifty Private Sector Bank index has been outperforming the PSU Banking Index, supporting further upward movement expectations. ICICI Bank (CMP: ₹1,432.10) traded near its day high and offered support within a mixed banking group, gaining 0.65% and showing relative strength against broader market weakness. RBL Bank jumped 5.2% to hit its 52-week high of ₹409.65 after garnering $3.4 billion from FCNR-B deposits under the RBI's special swap facility.
Despite overall weakness, selective resilience emerged with ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra near their day highs, while Bharti Airtel and Grasim Industries provided positive leadership. Bajaj Auto (CMP: ₹11,996) led the gainers with 0.72% gain and held in the middle of its intraday range. Mahindra & Mahindra (CMP: ₹3,346.70) stayed near its day high despite mixed automobile sector participation. Healthcare sector showed marginal positive performance, with Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (CMP: ₹8,898.5) recommended for buying opportunities as it has been consolidating within ₹9,000-8,600 range with long built-up indicating bullish trend.
