The Nifty 50 index kicked off Friday’s trading session with a flat opening, as market participants remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy announcement. Despite the 25-basis-point repo rate cut by the RBI, the index failed to establish a definitive directional trend, grappling with heightened intraday volatility.

Following the RBI’s announcement, the Nifty witnessed intraday swings in both directions during the mid-session but eventually showed an upside recovery from the lows towards the end. Eventually, the index settled at 23,559.95, slipping 43 points, underscoring the presence of a strong resistance zone at elevated levels.

Midcaps outperformed, with the Midcap Index closing in the green. The Midcap Index gained 108 points to settle at 53,609.

The Nifty Metal index was the top sectoral gainer during Friday’s session after the RBI’s monetary policy announcement. JSPL was the top gainer on the Nifty Metal index, rising over 4%, while Tata Steel and Welspun Corp gained 3.5% each. JSW Steel, Vedanta, NMDC, NALCO, and SAIL all advanced between 2% and 2.5%.

Select financial stocks such as Federal Bank, REC, and PFC rebounded from lows post the RBI statement.

Trent saw buying interest at lower levels post-results, ending 3% higher. Multiple analysts tracking Tata Group’s Trent Ltd. have cut their price targets on the stock by 14% to 16% following its December quarter results. Trent’s results were in line with expectations, and the company maintained margins at 18%. The stock had declined earlier in the week due to concerns over Reliance Retail’s relaunch of the Chinese brand Shein in India.

For the week, markets experienced another volatile phase but managed to close with marginal gains, driven by mixed global and domestic factors. The week began on a weak note amid concerns over a potential tariff war.

However, sentiment improved after the US President announced a temporary pause on tariffs for Mexico and Canada, easing global trade worries.

IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, and Shriram Finance were the top Nifty gainers, whereas the top six Nifty losers belonged to the FMCG pack—Trent, ITC, Britannia, HUL, Tata Consumer, and Nestlé.

US stocks closed lower on Friday after Donald Trump announced plans to introduce reciprocal tariffs on multiple countries next week. While Trump did not specify which countries would be affected, he indicated that it would be a broad initiative aimed at addressing US budget concerns.

Going ahead, investor focus will shift to earnings and upcoming macroeconomic data releases, including the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation, scheduled for the week.

Additionally, movements in the rupee, foreign fund flows, and global market trends, particularly from the US, will be closely monitored.

Foreign investors turned net sellers in cash market on Friday, while domestic institutional investors were net buyers.

What do the Nifty 50 charts indicate?

Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities said the underlying short-term trend of Nifty is weak with high volatility. The market is now placed at the support of 23,500-23,400 levels and a sustainable upside bounce from the support could pull Nifty towards 23,800 levels again in the near term.

However, any breakdown of the support could negate the bullish bet and likely to bring sharp weakness, Shetti said.

The Nifty remained volatile as the RBI Governor announced the monetary policy. However, the volatility did not push the index below the 21 EMA on the daily timeframe, signifying a positive short-term trend.

LKP Securities’ Rupak De believes the trend may remain positive as long as the index stays above 23,450. On the higher end, resistance is placed at 23,700. A decisive move above 23,700 could lead to a rally toward 24,050.

According to OM Mehra of SAMCO Securities, the previous resistance at 23,430 has now transformed into a support level. The index continues to exhibit a higher high, higher low structure, reaffirming the sustainability of its uptrend.

“Key support levels are positioned at 23,400, followed by 23,350, while resistance remains at 23,850. Meanwhile, short-term moving averages gradually align on the higher side, reinforcing the positive sentiment,” Mehra said.

Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking said the Nifty successfully held its immediate support i.e. 23,400 at the 20-day exponential moving average (DEMA) on Friday. The recent swing low of 23,200 remains a crucial support level to sustain a positive positional bias, while the 23,900 mark serves as a major resistance. A breakout above this level could drive the index towards 24,200.

What do the Nifty Bank charts indicate?

The Nifty Bank closed at 50,158.85, declining 0.44% in Friday’s session, yet posted a 1.32% gain weekly, underscoring its underlying resilience. The index maintains a higher high, higher low structure, signalling a sustained bullish undertone.

Crucially, the index is holding firm above the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at 50,120, reinforcing the strength. The immediate hurdle stands at 50,650, and a decisive breakout beyond this zone could open the door for an extended move towards 51,500, Mehra said.

Here are the stocks to watch ahead of Monday’s trading session:

– Cipla has informed the exchanges that its manufacturing facility in Bengaluru’s Virgonagar has received a Voluntary Action Indicated status from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA.)

– Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has received an LoI from Rajasthan Part I Power Transmission for BF800 HVDC Project. BHEL has also received a LoA for thermal power station proj worth approx Rs 8,000 crore from Maharashtra State Power Generation.

– Bharat Electronics bags orders worth Rs 962 crore, including a contract of Rs 610 crore to supply electro-optical fire control system to the Indian Navy.

– LIC‘s new business premium declined 21% to ₹43,075 crore for the December quarter. Total APE was down 24% to ₹9,950 crore. Retail APE fell 27% to ₹6,449 crore.

– NHPC‘s net profit fell 52.5% to ₹231 crore. Revenue rose 11.3% to ₹2,286.8 crore. EBITDA surged 35.8% to ₹1,021.5 crore, while margin stood at 44.7%.

– Oil India‘s net profit was down 33.4% to ₹1,221.8 crore. Revenue fell 0.1% to ₹5,239.6 crore. EBITDA was down 2.3% at ₹2,132.7 crore while margin stood at 40.7%.

– L&T Finance will acquire gold loan business of Paul Merchants Finance for ₹537 crore.