Nifty gains for sixth consecutive session; closes above 8150

The fifty stock index -- Nifty -- continued its northward journey for sixth consecutive day on Wednesday and finished the volatile day of trade with a gain of 24 points or 0.30%, on the back of rally in energy and mining stocks, tracking a recovery in global crude oil prices. Besides, hopes of rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from the next financial year aided sentiment. On the global front, Asian equity markets ended in green on Wednesday, as oil prices showed some signs of life, supporting battered resource shares and emerging economy currencies. A tactical rally in emerging markets on back of some stability in China PMI and weak US jobs data pushing Fed rate hike expectations to March 2016. Further, European markets too made a positive start after Glencore shares rose for a fourth day in London and ahead of UK’s Industrial and manufacturing production figures.

Back home,  after getting a cautious start, Indian benchmark nifty showed some strength in mid morning trade as investor were largely influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be rolled out next year. Modi also added that the government was speeding up regulatory clearances, reducing licensing requirements in the defence sector and making tax policy more consistent. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 480.24 crore on October 06, 2014. However, the sentiment turned pessimistic in afternoon trade as International Monetary fund (IMF) has lowered India’s growth forecast for FY16 to 7.3 per cent from its July forecast of 7.5 per cent. Some cautiousness also came with Moody's report that India facing fourth largest number of terror attacks across the world in 2013, such incidents have a significant and long-lasting negative impact on the economy. But, the late short covering in blue-chip stocks and supportive leads from European markets ensured that local index go home with some profit. Further, Oil explorers rose tracking a rebound in crude oil prices, while auto stocks gained on hopes the upcoming festive season would boost sales. Shares of sugar companies have surged after commodity prices have jumped 24% in the past two months on expectations of improved demand during the festival season in the domestic market and on global forecasts of shortage during the next crushing season.  On the other hand, power sector lenders declined for a second consecutive session on profit-taking after surging higher on hopes the government would soon announce power distributors' restructuring. Meanwhile, the upcoming earnings season with Infosys due to post July-September results on October 12, and macro data including inflation, and industrial output next week, would be key domestic data points to watch in the near term.

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Unitech, Hindalco Industries and Jaiprakash Associates. On the other hand, the top losers were Jindal Steel & Power, Jubilant Foodworks and India Cements. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 8000-8400 calls and 7600-8000 puts. In today's session, the 8300, 8500 and 8600 Call strikes saw addition of 1.83, 1.60 and 2.27 lakh shares, respectively. On the other hand, 8200, 8100 and 8000 Put strikes saw addition of 5.14, 8 and 4.71 lakh shares, respectively.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 0.17% and reached 19.33. The 50-share CNX Nifty was up by 24.50 points or 0.30% to settle at 8,177.40.

Among Nifty calls, 8300 SP from the October month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.18 million open interests.  Among Nifty puts, 8000 SP from the October month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.47 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8300 SP (4.62 mn) and that for Puts was at 7800 SP (4.68 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8199.90 --- Pivot Point 8166.40 --- Support --- 8143.90.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.27 for October month contract.  The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Indraprastha Gas (1.89), Exide Industries (1.49), Lupin (1.23), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (1.23) and Hero MotoCorp (1.20).   

Among most active underlying, Maruti Suzuki India witnessed an addition of 0.17 million of Open Interest in the October month futures contract, followed by Reliance Industrieswitnessing a contraction of 0.15 million of Open Interest in the October month contract; Infosys witnessed an addition of 1.33 million of Open Interest in the October month contract, Tata Motors witnessed an addition of 1.65 million of Open Interest in the October month contract and State Bank of Indiawitnessed an addition of 0.51 million units of Open Interest in the October month's future contract.