Live: Nifty's Stand at 24,000, Auto Sales Today | Opening Bell

The Indian stock markets witnessed a slight stumble for the first time in five trading sessions on Friday, snapping their winning streak. The Nifty 50 index dropped by 34 points to close at 24,011 due to profit-booking activities from traders and investors. However, despite this minor setback, the market breadth turned positive after leaning towards laggards for a few consecutive sessions. 

Despite the fall during Friday’s session, it's worth noting that over the week; Nifty delivered an impressive performance, rallying up by approximately 2.2%. This is indicative of an overall bullish sentiment prevailing in the market which has been driven by several factors including strong corporate earnings recently reported by key companies and positive global cues. 

However, following such a sharp run-up in recent times, analysts believe that there may be some consolidation expected in upcoming trading sessions before any significant surge is observed again. They suggest that support levels are likely to be around the 23,800-23,700 range for now before gathering strength for another upward move aiming at reaching anywhere between 24,200 -24,500 zones. 

As we step into next week’s trade session with these insights handy; certain sectors and stocks would certainly garner more attention than others given their latest developments or anticipated news flow. 

For instance; auto sector will be closely watched as they release their monthly sales figures amid rising fuel prices and ongoing semiconductor shortage impacting production worldwide. These numbers will give us an insight into how well this industry is coping with these challenges and what we can expect moving forward. 

In addition to autos; Vodafone Idea too appears on investors' radar post its tariff hike announcement made recently. It would be interesting to see how this strategic move plays out affecting the company's profitability margins while also impacting the customer base considering India being one of most price-sensitive telecom markets globally. 

Lastly but importantly; Godrej Properties remains another focus point amidst all the buzz surrounding the real estate sector lately especially after the government's recent announcement of tax relief for homebuyers and developers which is expected to boost overall demand in this space.  

In a conversation with Nandita Khemka, Aishvarya Dadheech, Founder & Chief Investment Officer at Fident Asset Management, and Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President - Research at Religare Broking discussed these market trends. They shared their insights on the possible trajectory of Indian equity markets while also shedding light on potential investment opportunities across sectors. 

To sum up; although Indian equity markets faced some hiccups towards the end of last week due to profit-booking activities; the broader sentiment remains optimistic given strong economic indicators and positive global cues. While consolidation may be seen in the short term before another upward rally takes place; investors are advised to keep an eye on key developments especially around auto sector’s monthly sales figures, Vodafone Idea post tariff hike scenario and Godrej Properties amidst favourable government policies boosting real estate sector.