Trade setup for June 29: Nifty50 has key support at the 15,700 level

Indian equity benchmarks lost steam on Tuesday following a pullback of almost three percent in three sessions, as weakness in financial shares offset strength in oil & gas and IT scrips in a choppy session.

The 50-scrip index is moving in an upward slowing channel on the hourly chart and can test the the upper line near 16,000, said Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"On the downside, 15,700-15,600 will act as a crucial support zone, which will provide cushion on the downside," he said.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures — an early indicator of the Nifty index — fell as much as 211 points or 1.3 percent to 15,631 on Wednesday, suggesting a gap-down opening ahead on Dalal Street.

Equities in other Asian markets began Wednesday in the red following a weak session on Wall Street overnight after a weak consumer confidence reading from the world's largest economy hurt investor optimism and fuelled worries over recession. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down one percent at the last count.

Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were down 1.1 percent each, and China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.1 percent.

S&P 500 futures eked out a gain of 0.1 percent. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 tumbled two percent. The Dow Jones fell 1.6 percent and the tech stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite three percent.

HDFC Securities' Shetti is of the view that choppy moves above 15,800, which has been a significant value area, will signal the chances of a false breakout, and could bring the bears into action. He sees immediate resistance at 15,950.

Here are three stocks that saw an increase in open interest as well as price:

Six stocks in the 500-strong index hit 52-week lows: Star Health, Chambal Fertilisers, IDBI Bank, Johnson Controls-Hitachi AC, Muthoot Finance and Wockhardt.