April 15 Trade Setup: Tech stocks poised for bullish move as Trump pauses tech tariff

The Nifty 50 index opened with a sharp upward gap of 297 points and continued to rise in the early session on Friday, before entering a range-bound phase for the remainder of the day. Despite the range-bound action earlier in the week, Friday's session ended on a strong note, with the index closing at 22,829, marking an impressive rally of 429 points. This recovery has more than erased the gap seen on April 7, 2025, with the index bouncing back by over 1,180 points from its recent low of 21,743.

Sectoral Performance and Major Gainers

Top Gainers: 47 out of 50 Nifty stocks closed in the green, with notable performances in metal and PSU stocks. Hindalco, JSW Steel, and Tata Steel led the pack, supported by positive global cues.

Reliance Industries emerged as the biggest contributor to the Nifty's gains, closing 3% higher.

TCS: The tech giant saw minor declines following mixed commentary on its March quarter earnings, with revenues slightly missing expectations and a significant margin miss of 60 basis points. The company also noted that decision-making cycles in certain sectors began slowing in February, impacting growth. The management plans to decide on the wage hike cycle during the year.

Despite a minor decline for the week, the Nifty, Sensex, and Midcap indices managed to outperform global peers, with the Nifty cutting its weekly losses after Friday’s 2% surge.

Sector Performance:

Worst Performers: IT, Metal, and Realty sectors saw declines of 2-4%.

Top Gainers: PSU and FMCG indices rose by 2-4%.

Foreign vs Domestic Investors:

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the cash market on Friday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers.

US Market Update: U.S. markets were bolstered by a surge in technology stocks after the White House exempted smartphones and computers from new tariffs on Chinese imports. However, additional levies on semiconductors remain likely. This move has provided support to tech stocks, although the full impact will depend on tariff rates announced later in the week.

Nifty Technical Outlook:

Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities remains bullish on the short-term outlook for Nifty, with a move above the 22,900-23,000 levels opening up targets of 23,400-23,500 quickly. Immediate support is seen at 22,700.

According to Rupak De of LKP Securities, the Nifty is facing resistance near the 21-EMA on the daily chart and may remain under pressure unless it moves above the 23,000 mark. On the downside, support lies at 22,750, and a break below this could lead to increased bearish sentiment. A decisive move above 23,000 may trigger a rally towards 23,500, as suggested by a positive divergence in the RSI.

Stocks to Watch:

GAIL (India): Invited expressions of interest for acquiring a 26% stake in a U.S. LNG project along with a 15-year gas sourcing contract.

Dr. Reddy’s: Denied claims of workforce reduction, responding to a Business Standard report.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL): Clarified that it has not finalized any consultancy firm for benchmarking its R&D processes.

GMR Power & Urban Infra Ltd: Plans to reduce its balance sheet by ₹4,400 crore, which will help meet a one-time settlement with lenders of its associate company.

Info Edge (India): Announced a stock split with a record date for its earlier-released announcement.

Persistent Systems: Received approval from NCLT, Mumbai for the merger of Capiot Software into the company.

Ashoka Buildcon: Declared the lowest bidder for a ₹569 crore project by Central Railway.