Trade Setup for July 18: Nifty bulls fight to defend 25,000 ahead of Reliance Industries results

After showing a minor bounce-back in the last couple of sessions, the Nifty failed to sustain its upward momentum during Thursday’s trade and ended the day lower amid choppy movement.

On the weekly expiry day, the index opened slightly positive but began sliding soon after. A brief recovery attempt during the early mid-part of the session failed, and the Nifty closed near the day's low.

The Nifty ended the session with a loss of 101 points, or 0.40%, to close at 25,111.

Tata Consumers, Tata Steel, and Hindalco showed notable strength, emerging as the top gainers on the Nifty. Conversely, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, and Infosys were among the major losers.

The broader market also witnessed profit booking, mirroring the benchmark indices. The Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 0.17%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.12%.

Among sectoral indices, Realty, Metal, and Consumer Durables showed some resilience and ended as the top gainers. However, the Nifty IT and Banking indices saw steep declines, contributing to the overall market weakness.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the cash market on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors remained net buyers.

Looking ahead to Friday, the market's focus will shift to key earnings reports from Reliance Industries, Hindustan Zinc, JSW Steel, Bandhan Bank, and IndiaMART Intermesh.

Stocks like Wipro, Axis Bank, Jio Financial Services, and Indian Hotels, which posted their results after market hours on Thursday, will also be in focus.

Nandish Shah of HDFC Securities said the Nifty’s weak bounce from the 25,000-mark support suggests the possibility of a retest of that level in the short term. While 25,250 is likely to act as a strong resistance, the 25,000-24,900 zone remains a crucial support in the near term.

Rupak De of LKP Securities said that the index remained under selling pressure throughout the day, failing to move past the key resistance at 25,260, leading to long unwinding.

"On the hourly chart, a consolidation breakout is visible, indicating weakening bullish momentum. The sentiment appears bearish and may drag the Nifty towards the 24,920-24,900 zone in the short term. On the higher side, 25,260 is expected to act as a strong resistance," he added.

Hardik Matalia of Choice Equity Broking said, "On the downside, 25,000 acts as immediate support, followed by a stronger support zone near 24,900-24,700. A decisive breach below these levels could accelerate the decline.

"On the upside, 25,250 is immediate resistance, with a stronger hurdle around 25,400-25,500. A decisive move above this zone could help the index resume its bullish trend," he said.

Shah added that the Nifty failed to sustain above the 20-day EMA resistance, currently placed at 25,232. "The index continues to remain in a choppy trend. Immediate support is seen at 25,000, below which long positions should be avoided. On the upside, 25,250 remains a near-term resistance."

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