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Nifty formed a long bull candle on the daily chart on Thursday that surpassed the cluster hurdles like the 10- and 20-day EMA. This also opened the downside gap of December 19, which has been filled at 24,150. This is a positive indication and signals an important turnaround for the market on the upside. The recent swing low of 23,460 of December 31 could now be considered a larger degree higher bottom formation.The short-term trend of Nifty remains strong on the upside and one may expect the index to move towards the next hurdle of 24,400 levels. Any dips from here could find support around 23,900, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.According to the open interest (OI) data, the highest OI on the call side was observed at 24,200 and 24,500 strike prices, while on the put side, the highest OI was at 24,200 strike price followed by 24,000.What should traders do? Here’s what analysts said:Rupak De, LKP SecuritiesThe Nifty has moved above the 200 DMA after several failed attempts in the recent sessions. Additionally, the index has crossed above the 21 EMA on the daily timeframe, confirming a bullish trend. The RSI is also in a bullish crossover. The index appears to be a “buy on dips” candidate following a strong closing. Support is placed at 24,000, while on the higher end, it may move towards 24,500.Santosh Meena, Swastika InvestmartFrom a technical perspective, the Nifty had been struggling to sustain above its 200-DMA. However, on Thursday it not only crossed the 200-DMA effortlessly but also managed to surpass the 50-DMA and 20-DMA levels. This momentum is likely to continue, with the next target being the 100-DMA, around the 24,600 level.Thursday’s price action suggests that the Nifty may have formed a W-bottom formation, indicating a potential bullish reversal.Hrishikesh Yedve, Asit C. Mehta Investment InterrmediatesTechnically, on the daily chart, the Nifty has held its trend line support, crossed the 200-Day simple moving average (200-DSMA), and formed a strong bullish candle, indicating strength. Additionally, the index has broken out of a short-term consolidation range of 23,500–23,900. Following this breakout, the index is poised to test levels of 24,300–24,400 in the short term. On the downside, the 200-DSMA is placed near 23,890, which will act as short-term support for the index. As long as the index holds above 23,890, a buy-on-dips strategy is advisable for Nifty.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Activity in the derivatives segments has dropped by 20-30% on the exchanges and across brokers despite the the futures & options (F&O) regulations introduced by the market regulator Sebi in 2024 not being implemented fully, a blog post by Zerodha said, adding that the complete impact of these measures will be felt this year.The blog post was shared by Zerodha CEO and Founder Nithin Kamath on his X handle. He called 2024 "probably" the best year for the brokerage industry while lamenting that the best could be behind now."Given all these measures, there’s been a 20-30% drop in F&O activity on the exchanges and across the brokers from the time these regulations kicked in. Most of these measures haven’t even been fully implemented, and so, the fullest extent of these measures will be felt next year. Assuming that markets remain sideways, it’s fair to assume that F&O trading will dip even further," the blog post read."Looking back, 2024 was probably the best year for the brokerage industry, and it's starting to look like the best is behind us, at least for the foreseeable future. In terms of options turnover, we are back to 2022–23 levels. This is even before the impact of the increased lot sizes, which take effect in January 2025," Kamath said in a tweet on Thursday.It is not just the F&O segment, things are starting to cool down in the equity segment as well, the post said, adding that the total equity turnover is back to the level it was a year ago i.e. around December 2023/January 2024. "We’re still well above where the markets were before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it looks like the craziness may be ending," the post added.Among the measures introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) were limiting the weekly expiry to just one benchmark per exchange. The regulation was implemented from December 1 and now there are just Nifty and Sensex expiries in a week. From January, all monthly expiries of options contracts of an exchange will happen on the same day of the month.This limits the regulatory arbitrage of trading weekly expiries in other index contracts on the last week of the month, the blog post said.The market watchdog also introduced an additional margin of 2% of the contract size on all short option contracts to curtail speculative trading.From January 1, all index options contracts will have a 2-3X increase in lot size. Sebi has also removed the calendar spread margin benefit on expiry days which becomes effective from February 1.Also Read: Sensex vs gold: Which one will hit 1,00,000 milestone first?(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times

New Delhi: India’s job market closed 2024 with a 9% year-on-year increase in hiring activity, according to Naukri JobSpeak Index, a white-collar hiring indicator that climbed to 2,651 points in December, reflecting broad-based growth across key sectors. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) led the surge with an impressive 36% rise in hiring last year, alongside steady gains in other high-growth areas such as oil and gas (+13%), FMCG (+12%) and healthcare (+12%). “India’s job market is entering 2025 with vigour, driven by AI/ML growth and creative sectors,” said Pawan Goyal, chief business officer at Naukri.com. Geographically, South India drove the hiring charge, led by Chennai (+35%) and Bangalore (+21%), bolstering the overall momentum. Meanwhile, entry-level recruitment, which had remained subdued for much of the year, showed signs of recovery with a 6% increase in December. The architecture and interior design industry stood out in fresher hiring with a 39% growth last month, driven by demand for roles such as interior designers and video editors. The FMCG sector saw an 18% rise in fresher hiring—the highest for the year. Beauty and wellness (+26%) and consumer durables (+19%) also contributed to the uptick, reflecting demand in creative and lifestyle industries. “The surge in fresher hiring and evolving C-suite roles show we’re transitioning into a more dynamic landscape,” Goyal said. “Traditional sectors like FMCG are embracing this evolution, combining fresh talent with strategic expertise.” Tech-forward roles like machine learning engineers saw a remarkable 71% growth, highlighting the increasing reliance on AI-driven skills. Meanwhile, hiring for seasoned professionals (16+ years of experience) and high-salary positions (?20+ lakh per annum) rose by 29%, with demand extending beyond traditional CFO and CTO roles. Specialised leadership positions like chief safety officers (+14%) and chief legal officers (+12%) also gained traction, reflecting a shift toward diversification at the executive level. Strategic and top management roles saw a 17% increase, underscoring companies’ focus on leadership to navigate a rapidly changing market. Hiring in South India continued to gain ground, with Coimbatore posting a 14% rise in fresher recruitment, bolstered by a 52% surge in hiring by foreign multinational companies. Hyderabad recorded a 15% growth, supported by demand in IT, consumer durables, and real estate sectors. In the consumer durables space, overall hiring grew by 14%, with Bengaluru and Chennai leading the charge, reporting growth rates of 21% and 35%, respectively.The sales and marketing sector grew by 7% in December, with campaign manager roles driving the increase at 20%. Direct marketing (+8%) and marketing leadership (+6%) roles also showed steady growth, indicating companies’ focus on strengthening their marketing teams.