Nifty reclaims crucial 8,550 level

CNX Nifty, after a range-bound trading in the first half, firmed up in late trades to end higher on Wednesday led by gains in all major indices except IT. On global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Chinese shares hitting fresh seven-year highs on hopes for further stimulus, while Japanese shares succumbed to selling pressure in the wake of a firmer yen. Meanwhile, European counters traded firmly in early trades as data pointing to a gradual recovery in the euro zone gave investors fresh impetus.

Back home, the Nifty made a flat-to-negative opening below its crucial 8,500 level and hovered tad below its previous closing level as market participants remained cautious with the core sector growth dipping to a 17-month low in February at 1.4 per cent. Further, in absence of any major cues, the market trade continued to remain range-bound in the mid-noon session too as funds and retail investors booked profit amid weakness in other Asian bourses. However, in the second half, market pared its losses and turned positive on account of buying in front line counters taking cues from European counterparts. The sentiments turned optimistic after reports suggested that the government is likely to have met the fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of GDP for 2014-15, helped by last minute payment of Rs 10,808 crore by telecom companies for spectrum and tax receipts in March. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 356.07 crore on March 31, 2015. Market extended its gains till the end of session on account of buying in Banking, Realty, Infrastructure and FMCG stocks. Finally, Nifty ended the session at its intra-day high level with a gain of 95 points. 

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Century Textiles & Industries, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries. On the other hand, the top losers were HCL Technologies, TVS Motor Company and PTC India. In the index options segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 9000-8800 calls and 8400-8300 puts indicating the expected trading range. In today's session, the 8800, 8900 and 9000 Call strikes saw addition of 2.51, 1.35 and 2.64 lakh shares, respectively. On the other hand, 8600, 8500 and 8300 Put strikes saw addition of 4.34, 2.30 and 9.26 lakh shares, respectively. Meanwhile, some traders exited from 8400 and 8500 puts on the back of profit booking.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 5.70% and reached 13.66. The 50-share CNX Nifty was up by 95.25 points or 1.12% to settle at 8,586.25. Nifty April 2015 futures closed at 8633.10 on Wednesday at a premium of 46.85 points over spot closing of 8586.25, while Nifty May 2015 futures ended at 8680.10 at a premium of 93.85 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw a contraction of 0.54 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 18.97 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on April 30, 2015.

From the most active contracts, State Bank of India April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.40 points at 274.50 compared with spot closing of 274.10. The number of contracts traded were 23,497.

ICICI Bank April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.85 points at 324.25 compared with spot closing of 323.40. The number of contracts traded were 18,926.

HDFC Bank April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 8.40 points at 1042.30 compared with spot closing of 1033.90. The number of contracts traded were 19,734.

Reliance Industries April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 5.05 points at 840.20 compared with spot closing of 835.15. The number of contracts traded were 22,599.

Axis Bank April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 3.85 points at 573.65 compared with spot closing of 569.80. The number of contracts traded were 24,473.

Among Nifty calls, 8600 SP from the April month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.23 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8400 SP from the April month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.72 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 9000 SP (3.13 mn) and that for Puts was at 8,400 SP (3.70 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8638.18 --- Pivot Point 8551.47 --- Support --- 8499.53.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.11 for April month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Ranbaxy (1.70), Petronet LNG (1.29), CESC (1.25), Mcleod Russel India (1.11) and ACC (1.05). 

Among most active underlying, Ranbaxy Laboratories witnessed a contraction of 1.42 million of Open Interest in the April month futures contract, followed by Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries witnessing a contraction of 0.75 million of Open Interest in the April month contract; Maruti Suzuki witnessed a contraction of 0.08 million of Open Interest in the April month contract, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 2.37 million of Open Interest in the April month contract and Yes Bank  witnessed a contraction of 0.28 million of Open Interest in the April month's future contract.