Nifty ends choppy day of trade with slender gains

The fifty stock index -- Nifty – ended the session on positive note on Monday, on account of buying in front line blue chip stocks. Sentiments were on upbeat note from the early trade after India’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the three-month period ended September 30 grew 7.4%, slightly higher than the 7% in the previous quarter, with a boost from manufacturing and financial services. Besides, investors remained an optimistic mood with the RBI’s statement that it will maintain an accommodative stand on future rate cuts and that the economy is eventually limping towards a marked recovery. On the global front, after a weak trade in US markets, the Asian markets showed an enthusiastic performance with all the major indices in the region ended in green, rebounding from a two weeks low, as investors focused on the positives from Chinese data that showed the country’s factory activity contracted for the ninth straight month in November, but at a slower pace than in October. Further, European stocks were trading mixed in early trade, as investors remained nervous on growing uncertainty over whether the European Central Bank will announce additional stimulus measures at its policy meeting this week.

Back home, after getting a positive start, Indian benchmark Nifty showed some strength in early trades however, it failed to breach the narrow 38-point range for most part of the day, ending the session above its crucial 7,950 mark with a gain of over two tens of a percent. Sentiments got some support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that GDP in the current fiscal will be better than the growth rate recorded in the last financial year and improve further in subsequent years. Some support also came with global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service stating that the Reserve Bank of India’s efforts in bringing down inflation is credit positive for the country and hoped that the central bank will continue to remain vigilant in sticking to the target level. However, gains remained capped on the report that India's manufacturing sector grew at its weakest pace in over two years in November as demand and output continued to soften. Nikkei’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), fell to a 25-month low of 50.3 in November from October’s 50.7. Traders were seen piling position in Metal, FMCG and PSU stocks, while selling was witnessed in Auto, Consumer Durables and Banking sector stocks.

The top gainers from the F&O segment were South Indian Bank, Vedanta and JSW Steel. On the other hand, the top losers were Bharti Airtel, Eicher Motors and Bata India. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 8000-8500 calls and 7500-8000 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7600 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7700 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7900 Call, while 8200 call witnessed considerable OI addition.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility decreased by 4.84% and reached 15.63. The 50-share Nifty was up by 19.65 points or 0.25% to settle at 7,954.90. 

Nifty December 2015 futures closed at 7987.75 on Tuesday at a premium of 32.85 points over spot closing of 7,954.90, while Nifty January 2016 futures ended at 8023.30 at a premium of 68.40 points over spot closing. Nifty December futures saw addition of 0.30 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 19.50 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on December 31, 2015.   

From the most active contracts, SBI December 2015 futures traded at a premium of 1.05 points at 251.00 compared with spot closing of 249.95. The number of contracts traded were 11,776.        

ICICI Bank December 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.35 points at 274.85 compared with spot closing of 274.50. The number of contracts traded were 9,024.     

DLF December 2015 futures traded at a premium of 1.10 points at 118.55 compared with spot closing of 117.45. The number of contracts traded were 8,636.        

Axis Bank December 2015 futures traded at a premium of 3.45 points at 465.05 compared with spot closing of 461.60. The number of contracts traded were 18,003.           

Tata Steel December 2015 futures traded at a premium of 0.60 points at 238.95 compared with spot closing of 238.35. The number of contracts traded were 11,766.             

Among Nifty calls, 8000 SP from the December month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.47 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7900 SP from the December month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.05 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8500 SP (4.20 mn) and that for Puts was at 8000 SP (4.51 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7973.32 --- Pivot Point 7953.73 --- Support --- 7935.32.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1 for December month contract.  The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were ACC (1.36), SAIL (1.32), GAIL (1.29), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (1.24) and STAR (1.20).   

Among most active underlying, Maruti Suzuki India witnessed an addition of 0.04 million of Open Interest in the December month futures contract, followed by Axis Bank witnessing an addition of 3.68 million of Open Interest in the December month contract; Dr. Reddy's Laboratories witnessed a contraction of 0.08 million of Open Interest in the December month contract, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 0.78 million of Open Interest in the December month contract and State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 0.24 million units of Open Interest in the December month's future contract.