Nifty snaps the first day of the new year on a flat note

Nifty went through a dull session of trade on the very first day of the year. Traders mostly looked in a holiday mood and remained on sidelines lacking any cues from the global markets, as most of them remained closed. There were mixed economic development on the domestic front too, unable to give any direction to the markets. On the one hand while the Central Government’s fiscal deficit for the April-November period touched 99 per cent of the Budget estimate for 2014-15, on the other Core sector output grew at its fastest in five months in November, backed by the robust performance of coal, electricity and cement sectors. Markets kept moving in a tight range, though managed to enter the green by last.

Trade remained mostly directionless, though some sectors like auto performed well supported by upbeat monthly sales data. Maruti Suzuki reported 20.8 percent increase in its monthly sales, its domestic sales were up by 13.3 percent. Eicher Motors reported 24.66 percent growth in total sales in December, while Atul Auto’s sales were up by 18.82 percent. Infra sector too performed well, while media, pharma and FMCG were the top losers among the sectoral indices.

Top gainers in the F&O segment were Jindal Steel, Bharti Airtel, NMDC and SSLT, while top losers were Coal India, NTPC, Dr Reddy and HDFC. India vix reduced marginally, indicating the declining volatility in the market.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility decreased by 0.62% and reached 15.02. The 50-share CNX Nifty was up by 1.30 points or 0.02% to settle at 8,284.00.

Nifty January 2015 futures closed at 8343.80 on Thursday at a premium of 59.80 points over spot closing of 8284.00, while Nifty February 2015 futures ended at 8397.30 at a premium of 113.30 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw contraction of 0.02 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.14 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 29, 2015.

From the most active contracts, State Bank of India January 2015 futures traded at a premium of 2.40 points at 316.65 compared with spot closing of 314.25. The number of contracts traded were 14,720.

Reliance Communications January 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.85 points at 84.00 compared with spot closing of 83.15. The number of contracts traded were 7,843.

HDFC Bank January 2015 futures traded at a premium of 8.85 points at 961.15 compared with spot closing of 952.30. The number of contracts traded were 8,230.

Reliance Industries January 2015 futures traded at a premium of 5.95 points at 893.95 compared with spot closing of 888.00. The number of contracts traded were 7,140.

Tata Steel January 2015 futures traded at a premium of 2.35 points at 408.20 compared with spot closing of 405.85. The number of contracts traded were 14,920.

Among Nifty calls, 8500 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.37 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8,000 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.33 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8400 SP (3.86 mn) and that for Puts was at 8,000 SP (5.86 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8302.88 --- Pivot Point 8275.82--- Support --- 8256.93.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.29 for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were DLF (1.02), Century Textiles & Industries (1.02), Bajaj Auto(1.00), Indusind Bank (1.00), and maruti Suzuki (0.99). 

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 0.36 million of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, followed by Andhra Bank witnessing an addition of 1.90 million of Open Interest in the January month contract; Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 0.49 million of Open Interest in the January month contract, Infosys witnessed a contraction of 0.07 million of Open Interest in the January month contract and Exide Industries witnessed an addition of 0.61 million of Open Interest in the January month's future contract.