Nifty extends gains for fifth consecutive session

The fifty stock index -- Nifty -- continued its northward journey for fifth consecutive day on Thursday and finished the volatile day of trade with a gain of 63 points or 0.73%, on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters as the Moody's Investors Service changed India’s outlook to positive from stable. On global front, Asian stock markets mostly ended in red, while Hong Kong rocketed for a second consecutive day as investors seek to capitalise on the Stock Connect scheme with Shanghai. Meanwhile, the European stocks climbed on Thursday, putting the market on course for its highest close on record, after U.S. Federal Reserve minutes showed officials were divided about when to raise interest rates.

Back home, the Indian equity benchmark made a positive start buoyed by a firm trend in other Asian markets. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that the proposal to allow railways and highways to issue tax-free bonds was cleared. Nifty pared all its early gains and slipped into red in late morning session on the back of profit taking in pharma shares after sharp gains in the previous few weeks. Further, in absence of any major cues, the market continued to remain range-bound in the mid-noon session. However, in the second half, the index pared its losses and turned positive on account of buying in front line counters. The sentiments turned optimistic with reports that India’s summer monsoon rains are expected to be normal this year. Monsoon rains are vital for India’s farm sector, which accounts for 14 per cent of the $2 trillion economy, as half of the country's farmland lacks irrigation.  Market extended its gains till the end of session on account of buying in Banking, Metal, PSU and Information Technology (IT) stocks. Finally, Nifty ended the session at its intra-day high level with a gain of 63 points. 

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Punjab National Bank, India Cements and Indiabulls Housing Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were Strides Arcolab, Wockhardt and Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries. In the index options segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 8800-9000 calls and 8500-8400 puts indicating the expected trading range. In today's session, the 8700, 8900 and 9000 Call strikes saw addition of 1.98, 2.27 and 3.12 lakh shares, respectively. On the other hand, 8700, 8600 and 8500 Put strikes saw addition of 4.29, 3.19 and 6.35 lakh shares, respectively.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 0.49% and reached 14.41. The 50-share CNX Nifty was up by 63.90 points or 0.73% to settle at 8,778.30.

Nifty April 2015 futures closed at 8811.10 on Thursday at a premium of 32.80 points over spot closing of 8,778.30, while Nifty May 2015 futures ended at 8857.35 at a premium of 79.05 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw a contraction of 0.09 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 19.07 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on April 30, 2015.

From the most active contracts, Axis Bank April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 4.15 points at 575.75 compared with spot closing of 571.60. The number of contracts traded were 48,702.

Rural Electrification Corporation April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 2.80 points at 338.85 compared with spot closing of 336.05. The number of contracts traded were 35,974.

State Bank of India April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.65 points at 281.65 compared with spot closing of 281.00. The number of contracts traded were 32,532.

ICICI Bank April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 1.90 points at 322.6 compared with spot closing of 320.70. The number of contracts traded were 24,623.

Reliance Industries April 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.80 points at 897.8 compared with spot closing of 897.00. The number of contracts traded were 44,080.

Among Nifty calls, 8800 SP from the April month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.27 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8700 SP from the April month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.42 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 9000 SP (4.58 mn) and that for Puts was at 8,500 SP (5.03 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8815.05--- Pivot Point 8748.75--- Support --- 8712.00.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.32 for April month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Mindtree (1.58), UBL (1.31), M&M (1.21), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (1.19) and Cairn (1.12). 

Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 0.06 million of Open Interest in the April month futures contract, followed by Axis Bank witnessing an addition of 0.86 million of Open Interest in the April month contract; State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 0.18 million of Open Interest in the April month contract, Rural Electrification Corporation witnessed a contraction of 1.20 million of Open Interest in the April month contract and ICICI Bank witnessed a contraction of 0.11 million of Open Interest in the April month's future contract.