Nifty skids lower for second consecutive day

The fifty stock index -- Nifty -- continued its southward journey for second consecutive day on Tuesday and finished the choppy day of trade with a cut of about four tens of a percent. Sentiments remained downbeat for most part of the day as Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said growth is slow in picking up even as macro-economic parameters have improved, while stressing the role of state governments in improving fiscal performance. He also said that there was a need to make State Level Coordination Committees (SLCCs) more active and effective.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, with Hong Kong and Shanghai leading the way, while Tokyo marked an eighth straight gain to a 15-year high. Traders are awaiting the release of key US data this week, including revised economic growth for the first quarter and durable goods orders. However, European shares mostly fell as markets reopened after holidays in several countries, with concerns over Greece's debt crisis overshadowing upbeat news from China.

Back home, the Indian equity benchmark got off to a cautious but positive start and lost some ground in early morning trade on absence of any positive triggers which could have taken the market higher and sustained selling in frontline line blue-chip stocks. Besides, Weak quarterly earnings coupled with Greece fiscal woes dampened the sentiments of the market participants. Trade was also being weighed down by a survey of NCAER which said that business sentiment fell sharply in the March quarter due to concerns over investment climate amid 'patchy' and 'uneven growth'. Meanwhile, nifty traded in a small range near its crucial 8,350 mark till early afternoon trades, but the selling pressure accentuated in the late afternoon as investors took to across the board selling after weak opening in European counterparts. Traders remained cautious ahead of the expiry of May derivatives contracts due on Thursday and GDP data scheduled on Friday. However, some value buying in dying hours helped the index to pare some of its losses, albeit end the session with a cut of 30 points. Traders were seen piling positions in Banking, Power and infrastructure stocks, while sharp selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Realty and FMCG sector stocks

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Dish TV India, Eicher Motors and UPL. On the other hand, the top losers were Tech Mahindra, Canara Bank and Ambuja Cements. In the index options segment, maximum OI is being seen in the 8500-8400 calls and 8100-8300 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 8400 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 8200 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 8600 Call, while 8400 call witnessed considerable OI addition.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 0.80% and reached 17.06. The 50-share CNX Nifty was down by 30.90 points or 0.37% to settle at 8,339.35. Nifty May 2015 futures closed at 8337.90 on Tuesday at a discount of 1.45 points over spot closing of 8,339.35, while Nifty June 2015 futures ended at 8,355.35 at a premium of 16.00 points over spot closing. Nifty May futures saw contraction of 1.16 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 10.75 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on May 28, 2015.

From the most active contracts, State Bank of India May 2015 futures traded at a discount of 3.30 points at 274.30 compared with spot closing of 277.60. The number of contracts traded were 31,430.

Dish TV May 2015 futures traded at a discount of 0.50 points at 97.00 compared with spot closing of 97.50. The number of contracts traded were 33,158.

Tata Motors May 2015 futures traded at a discount of 1.40 points at 497.60 compared with spot closing of 499.00. The number of contracts traded were 27,782.

Reliance Industries May 2015 futures traded at a discount of 2.40 points at 884.60 compared with spot closing of 887.00. The number of contracts traded were 30,528.

HDFC Bank May 2015 futures traded at a discount of 4.65 points at 1023.85 compared with spot closing of 1028.50. The number of contracts traded were 41,603.

Among Nifty calls, 8400 SP from the May month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.76 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8300 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 0.29million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8500 SP (5.84 mn) and that for Puts was at 8,300 SP (4.94 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8372.15--- Pivot Point 8346.10--- Support --- 8313.30.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.26 for May month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bajaj-Auto (2.32), VOLTAS (1.99), Eicher Motors (1.96), Hero MotoCorp (1.83) and Adani Enterprises (1.64). 

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 11.52 million of Open Interest in the May month futures contract, followed by Dish TV India witnessing an addition of 0.76 million of Open Interest in the May month contract; HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 6.81 million of Open Interest in the May month contract, Bharat Heavy Electricals witnessed a contraction of 7.03 million of Open Interest in the May month contract and Tata Motors witnessed a contraction of 2.90 million of Open Interest in the May month's future contract.