Sensex, Nifty Prediction Today, 31 July: Analysts see Nifty at 24,500, Sensex faces key hurdle at 78,600; technical levels to watch

Indian benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty enter Friday’s trading session with sustained bullish momentum after extending their gains for a fifth consecutive session on Thursday, supported by buying in heavyweight stocks such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India, even as weakness in the broader market and select sectors capped the upside.

Technical analysts expect the indices to consolidate briefly before attempting a breakout toward higher resistance zones, supported by steady foreign fund inflows and robust late-session buying in market heavyweights.

Sensex, Nifty at close on Thursday, July 30

In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 273.55 points, or 0.35 per cent, higher at 77,928.15, helped by fag-end buying. During the day, it hit a high of 78,007.09 and a low of 77,440.91, gyrating 566.18 points.

The 50-share NSE Nifty advanced by 66.95 points, or 0.28 per cent, to end at 24,317.15.

Sensex, Nifty top gainers and losers on Thursday, July 30

Mahindra & Mahindra, Coal India and Eicher Motors emerged as the top gainers on the Nifty index, helping the benchmark maintain positive territory despite a mixed market trend.

According to Sachin Gupta, Vice President - Technical Research at Choice Broking, the Nifty maintained a constructive bias throughout the session after overcoming the 24,250 resistance level, which also coincided with the highest Max Pain in Open Interest.

"Indian equity benchmark Nifty 50 ended the session on a positive note, closing at 24,317.15, up 66.95 points (+0.28%), after a range-bound yet constructive trading session. The index opened flat at 24,249.55 and remained confined within a narrow range during the first half, as the 24,250 Strike, which carried the highest Max Pain in Open Interest, acted as a strong resistance zone,” he said.

“Fresh buying interest emerged in the second half, enabling the index to decisively cross the 24,250 mark and extend gains towards an intraday high of 24,342.95 before settling near the day's highs,” Gupta stated.

On the daily chart, Gupta stated Nifty formed a bullish green candle for the fifth consecutive session, reflecting sustained buying interest and strengthening market sentiment after the recent correction.

From a technical perspective, the RSI improved to 57.66, indicating strengthening bullish momentum. As long as the index sustains above the 24,150–24,200 support zone, Nifty is likely to extend its recovery towards the 24,500 mark, with the overall outlook remaining positive, he stated.

“The Nifty PCR stood at 1.14, reflecting a balanced-to-positive derivatives setup and supporting the ongoing recovery. Meanwhile, India VIX edged higher to 12.15 up by 1.23%, indicating a marginal rise in volatility while remaining at comfortable levels. Sector-wise, Auto, IT, and Media emerged as the top-performing sectors during the session, reflecting continued buying interest. On the other hand, Realty, Chemicals, and Financial Services witnessed profit booking and underperformed, indicating selective sector rotation,” the analyst concluded.

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said, “After witnessing a sharp upmove with gap up opening on Wednesday, Nifty continued with upside momentum on Thursday and closed the day with modest gains of around 66 points amidst volatility.”

He further stated a reasonable positive candle was formed on the daily chart with minor upper and lower shadow. Technically, this market action indicates a consolidation movement in the market near the overhead resistance like 200day EMA and previous swing highs.

“The underlying short-term trend of Nifty continues to be positive. After the minor consolidation movement around 24300 levels in the next 1-2 sessions Nifty could eventually stage decisive breakout towards 24600-24700 levels in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 24150,” Shetti added.

Sensex Prediction for Friday, July 31

Hitesh Tailor, Technical Research Analyst at Choice Equity Broking, said the Sensex recovered strongly from intraday lows and closed near the day's high, reflecting sustained buying interest at lower levels. “Sensex closed at 77,928.15, up by 273.55 points (+0.35%) after witnessing a volatile yet positive trading session. The index opened at 77,638.86, touched an intraday low of 77,440.91 during the initial minutes, and gradually recovered as buying interest emerged. The momentum strengthened in the second half, pushing the index to an intraday high of 78,007.09, before settling near the day's high at 77,928.15,” he said.

Tailor further said the Sensex has formed a strong bullish candlestick on the daily chart, recovering from lower levels and closing near the day's high. “The price action indicates buying interest at lower levels and reflects the market's ability to absorb intraday profit booking, keeping the short-term sentiment positive,” Tailor stated.

Sector-wise, the market witnessed buying interest in Auto, Information Technology, Oil & Gas, Energy, Consumer Discretionary and Metals, while Capital Goods, Realty, Industrials, Healthcare and Financial Services ended in the red, indicating a mixed sectoral trend, he added.

From a technical perspective, Tailor stated Sensex continues to trade above its 20-Day, 50-Day and 100-Day EMA, indicating that the near- to medium-term trend remains positive. “However, the index is still trading below the 200-Day EMA, suggesting that the broader long-term trend is yet to turn decisively bullish. The RSI has improved to 57.58, remaining above the midpoint and indicating strengthening momentum,” the analyst stated.

Technically, the index appears to be consolidating within a defined range after the recent recovery. The 77,400–77,500 zone is expected to cushion any near-term decline, while 78,300–78,600 remains a crucial supply zone. A decisive close above this resistance could trigger fresh upside momentum, whereas failure to do so may keep the index range-bound in the near term, he added.

Broader markets, sectoral indices on Thursday

The BSE SmallCap Select index dipped 0.66 per cent and the MidCap Select index edged lower by 0.36 per cent.

Among sectors, Auto climbed 1.58 per cent, Energy 0.73 per cent, Consumer Discretionary 0.48 per cent, Oil & Gas 0.38 per cent, Top 10 Banks 0.20 per cent, Metal 0.17 per cent and Consumer Durables 0.13 per cent.

Realty declined 2.10 per cent, Services 1.14 per cent, MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt 0.82 per cent, Insurance 0.69 per cent, Capital Goods 0.61 per cent, Industrials 0.42 per cent and Commodities 0.39 per cent.

Sectorally, Nifty Realty was the top drag, losing 2 per cent, followed by Nifty Chemicals (1.18 per cent). Nifty Auto emerged as the top sectoral gainer ending 1.63 per cent higher. In the broad market, most indices ended in the red.

On the other hand, Nifty MidCap index ended 0.35 per cent lower, while the Nifty SmallCap index declined 0.56 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Realty index was the biggest laggard, falling 2 per cent during the session.

The Nifty Chemical index also ended in the red and underperformed the broader market.

On the other hand, the Nifty Auto, Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty Consumer Durables indices outperformed, providing support to the benchmark indices and limiting the impact of weakness in other sectors.