Nifty skids lower for fourth day in a row

The fifty stock index -- Nifty -- ended the choppy day of trade with a marginal cut on Monday on lack of fresh triggers and caution ahead of the expiry of March derivative contracts later this week. Though, the index opened on a positive note tracking strong global cues but, it erased all the early gains and turned red as consistent sell-off witnessed in index heavyweight like Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL). On the global front, Asian stock indices ended mostly higher amid speculation the US will retain near-zero interest rates beyond the middle of the year. However, European stock markets opened mostly lower on Monday ahead of more talks aimed at solving Greece's debt crisis.

Back home, Indian equity benchmark made a positive start buoyed by a firming trend on other Asian markets following week-end rallies in the US markets. In the first half, market traded in green as the market-men got some support with international credit rating agency Fitch’s latest report on Global Economic Outlook saying that India is the only BRIC nation, where growth will accelerate, to 8 per cent in FY16 and 8.3 per cent in FY17, based on revised data series. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 354.59 crore on March 20, 2015. However, in the afternoon session, market pared its early gains and slipped into red on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters taking cues from European markets. Traders were seen piling positions in Infrastructure, Metal and Auto stocks, while selling was witnessed in information technology (IT), Consumer Durables and bank sector stocks. Finally, Nifty ended the session with a loss of 20 points.

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Havells India, GMR Infrastructure and Hindalco Industries. On the other hand, the top losers were Amtek Auto, Jindal Steel & Power and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. In the index options segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 9000-8900 calls and 8500-8400 puts indicating the expected trading range. In today's session, some traders exited from 8700, 8800 and 8900 puts on the back of profit booking. On the other hand, 8500 and 8600 calls strikes saw addition of 2.09 and 10.14 lakh shares, respectively.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 0.07% and reached 14.27. The 50-share CNX Nifty was down by 20 points or 0.23% to settle at 8,550.90.

Nifty March 2015 futures closed at 8565.00 on Monday at a premium of 14.10 points over spot closing of 8550.90, while Nifty April 2015 futures ended at 8638.15 at a premium of 87.25 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw contraction of 0.91 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.98 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 26, 2015.

From the most active contracts, State Bank of India March 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.45 points at 275.05 compared with spot closing of 274.60. The number of contracts traded were 26,310.

ICICI Bank March 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.90 points at 314.90 compared with spot closing of 314.00. The number of contracts traded were 24,933.

HDFC Bank March 2015 futures traded at a premium of 3.85 points at 1052.60 compared with spot closing of 1048.75. The number of contracts traded were 45,600.

Axis Bank March 2015 futures traded at a premium of 3.40 points at 556.20 compared with spot closing of 552.80. The number of contracts traded were 22,223.

Reliance Industries March 2015 futures traded at a premium of 2.60 points at 844.60 compared with spot closing of 842.00. The number of contracts traded were 48,021.

Among Nifty calls, 8700 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.23 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8600 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 0.59 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 9000 SP (4.66 mn) and that for Puts was at 8,500 SP (5.31 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8592.65--- Pivot Point 8566.60--- Support --- 8524.85.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.84 for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bharti Airtel (0.97), Sun Pharma (0.92), Just Dial (0.91), Ranbaxy (0.88) and Havells (0.87). 

Among most active underlying, HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 7.79 million of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, followed by Reliance Industries witnessing a contraction of 7.34 million of Open Interest in the March month contract; State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 9.07 million of Open Interest in the March month contract, ICICI Bank witnessed a contraction of 5.65 million of Open Interest in the March month contract and Infosys witnessed a contraction of 1.09 million of Open Interest in the March month's future contract.