Nifty ends lower amid weak global cues

The fifty stock index -- Nifty -- ended lower on Thursday following weak global cues. Market started the session with gap down opening as traders remained cautious with global ratings agency Moody's statement that lower rate of inflation and a sharp decline in prices of commodities like crude oil and steel would lead to accelerated growth only if corporate and bank balance sheets are repaired and the private sector remains internationally competitive. Thereafter started the road to recovery for the market which kept slowly but steadily moving towards the neutral line on accounts renewed buying interest in battered stocks at attractive valuations after data showed that December Wholesale Price Index (WPI) contracted for the straight month. India's December WPI inflation stood at -0.73% year-over-year while November WPI was at -1.99%. The Index even managed to break into the positive terrain in mid noon trades but only for a brief period and once gain entered into red with breaching its psychosocial 7,550 mark. On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red, after the steep losses on Wall Street overnight as a rout in oil price heightened worries about the global economy. European markets suffered sharp falls as oil price volatility continued to weigh on investors.

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Infosys, Lupin and Unitech. On the other hand, the top losers were Jindal Steel & Power, The Karnataka Bank and Aditya Birla Nuvo. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7500-8300 calls and 7000-7700 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7800 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7300 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 8000 Call, while 7900 call witnessed considerable OI addition. 

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 1.38% and reached 18.60. The 50-share Nifty was down by 25.60 points or 0.34% to settle at 7,536.80.   

Nifty January 2016 futures closed 7540.55 on Thursday at a premium of 3.75 points over spot closing of 7,536.80, while Nifty February 2016 futures ended at 7559.25 at a premium of 22.45 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw addition of 0.15 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 22.36 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 28, 2016.                

From the most active contracts, SBI January 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.10 points at 195.95 compared with spot closing of 195.85. The number of contracts traded were 23,391.           

ICICI Bank January 2016 futures traded at a discount of 0.65 points at 234.85 compared with spot closing of 235.50. The number of contracts traded were 17,713.                     

Axis Bank January 2016 futures traded at a premium of 2.25 points at 392.05 compared with spot closing of 389.80. The number of contracts traded were 17,708.                        

Tata Motors January 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.65 points at 354.45 compared with spot closing of 353.80. The number of contracts traded were 12,419.          

Tata Steel January 2016 futures traded at a discount of 1.25 points at 238.20 compared with spot closing of 239.45. The number of contracts traded were 14,813.   

Among Nifty calls, 7600 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.35 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7400 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.35 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8000 SP (6.10 mn) and that for Puts was at 7300 SP (6.44 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7613.13 --- Pivot Point 7528.47 --- Support --- 7452.13.     

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.91 for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were United Breweries (2.50), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (2.14), Tata Consultancy Services (1.08), Infosys (0.98), and HCL Technologies (0.98).    Among most active underlying, Infosys witnessed an addition of 1.23 million of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, followed by Reliance Industries witnessing an addition of 0.96 million of Open Interest in the January month contract; State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 1.66 million of Open Interest in the January month contract, Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 0.74 million of Open Interest in the January month contract and Tata Consultancy Services witnessed an addition of 0.19 million units of Open Interest in the January month's future contract.