It was a choppy session on Dalal Street and a late slump saw the benchmark indices give up their day’s gains. After hitting intra-day high of 8100, the Nifty ended below 8050 ahead of December Futures & Options (F&O) expiry tomorrow. The 50-share index was up 2 points at 8034.85 while the Sensex was down 2.76 points at 26210.68.Market experts see a slow start to 2017 with Union Budget being the next big trigger after third quarter earnings.

Ramdeo Agarwal, joint MD, Motilal Oswal says that Dalal Street is expected to start 2017 on a slow note. Therefore, the market veteran advices investors to be selective when investing in equities. He also believes that the post note ban pain is on the wane and that recovery after demonetisation is faster than expected.

Sanjay Dutt, Director of Quantum Securities thinks the first half of 2017 could see the market scaling new heights, adding that price correction has already happened. This, however, will also depend upon flows and currency movements. On the upcoming Budget, Dutt said it “could be a landmark Budget” with more radical changes coming in. Aggressive correction in stocks has factored in the third quarter earnings.

Ramdeo Agarwal, joint MD, Motilal Oswal says that Dalal Street is expected to start 2017 on a slow note. Therefore, the market veteran advices investors to be selective when investing in equities. He also believes that the post note ban pain is on the wane and that recovery after demonetisation is faster than expected.

Sanjay Dutt, Director of Quantum Securities thinks the first half of 2017 could see the market scaling new heights, adding that price correction has already happened. This, however, will also depend upon flows and currency movements. On the upcoming Budget, Dutt said it “could be a landmark Budget” with more radical changes coming in. Aggressive correction in stocks has factored in the third quarter earnings.

The market is likely to be volatile Thursday on expiry. Mitesh Thacker of miteshthacker.com, says reassuringly that as long as 8,010 mark is not broken on the Nifty, it is best to stay long. He says the F&O expiry will not see a victory of either bulls or bears. He sees Nifty closing between 8,000 and 8,100 at expiry.

Among stocks, midcaps, FMCG and pharma stocks outperformed in trade.  Coal India, Wipro, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Lupin and M&M were top gainers while Reliance, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank and ONGC were losers in the Sensex.

Only 2 PSU banks closed in the green with PNB, Canara Bank and OBC as top losers. SBI and ICICI Bank were other losers in the banking index.