Nifty ends lower on Monday

The fifty stock Index -- Nifty -- ended lower on Monday on account of selling in front line blue chip counters coupled with concerns about the global economy which are mounting after crude fell to its lowest since 2003.  Sentiments were under pressure on report that India's exports contracted for 13th month in a row in December 2015 as outward shipments shrank 14.75 per cent to $22.2 billion amid a global demand slowdown. On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red, as volatility in Chinese economy and decline in global crude prices put pressure on Asia. The European markets opened in green, however, soon slipped in the negative terrain on weak global cues. Back home, after feeble start, market extended it losses and continued to trade in range bound till afternoon deals. Thereafter a sharp selling was witnessed that dragged Nifty below 7350 level but bout of buying was witnessed in last minutes of trade that helped market to end tad above 7350 mark.      

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Karnataka Bank, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Tata Steel. On the other hand, the top losers were Jet Airways (India), Adani Power and IDBI Bank. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7400-8200 calls and 7000-7700 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7500 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7200 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7700 Call, while 7500 call witnessed considerable OI addition.  

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 4.17% and reached 20.22. The 50-share Nifty was down by 86.80 points or 1.17% to settle at 7,351.00.   

Nifty January 2016 futures closed 7372.25 on Monday at a premium of 21.25 points over spot closing of 7,351.00, while Nifty February 2016 futures ended at 7391.25 at a premium of 40.25 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw contraction of 1.37 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.25 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 1.00 points at 181.85 compared with spot closing of 180.85. The number of contracts traded were 34,003.           

ICICI Bank January 2016 futures traded at a discount of 0.35 points at 223.75 compared with spot closing of 224.10. The number of contracts traded were 22,570.                     

Axis Bank January 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.35 points at 374.45 compared with spot closing of 374.10. The number of contracts traded were 24,710.                        

Tata Steel January 2016 futures traded at a discount of 1.85 points at 235.55 compared with spot closing of 237.40. The number of contracts traded were 11,706.            

Reliance Industries January 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.35 points at 1020.75 compared with spot closing of 1,020.40. The number of contracts traded were 29,020.    

Among Nifty calls, 7500 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1.28 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7400 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.30 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 7700 SP (6.20 mn) and that for Puts was at 7300 SP (6.78 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7430.97 --- Pivot Point 7383.68 --- Support --- 7303.72.        

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.84 for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were United Breweries (2./85), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (1.69), Tata Consultancy Services (1.01), Wipro (1.01) and Infosys (0.99).     Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 0.06 million of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, followed by State Bank of India witnessing a contraction of 1.21 million of Open Interest in the January month contract; Reliance Infrastructure witnessed an addition of 0.07 million of Open Interest in the January month contract, Infosys  witnessed a contraction of 0.85 million of Open Interest in the January month contract and Axis Bank  witnessed a contraction of 0.36 million units of Open Interest in the January month's future contract.