Nifty ends lower for third straight day

The fifty stock index -- Nifty  -- ended lower for third straight session on Wednesday on rising concerns over a spike in bad loans of public sector banks amid global sell-off. After getting gap - down opening, equity benchmark Nifty traded in tight band for most part of the day’s trade, as participants indulged in offloading their positions, tracking a weak trend in Asian region following overnight losses in the US market. In late afternoon session, Market extended its losses and was trading near day’s low following a downtrend in global stocks that fell on alarming concerns about the health of world banks. Thereafter, market recovered from day’s low on the account of firm trades in European counters. But selling was once again witnessed in final hour of trade that dragged the Nifty below 7,250 mark and finally ended with a loss of over 80 points.  On the global front, European stocks rose on Wednesday, rallying after losses in Asia, as concerns about the health of banks that have hammered shares globally in recent days eased and oil prices recovered from Tuesday's steep falls, while Asian markets ended lower, With Nikkei 225 down by 2.31%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 1.09% and Jakarta Composite down by 0.76%.

Bach home, the top gainers from the F&O segment were Apollo Tyres, Reliance Infrastructure and CEAT. On the other hand, the top losers were Allahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank and UCO Bank. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7300-8000 calls and 6800-7500 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7400 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7000 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7600 Call, while 7300 call witnessed considerable OI addition.  

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 3.39% and reached 22.46. The 50-share Nifty was down by 82.50 points or 1.13% to settle at 7,215.70.   

Nifty February 2016 futures closed 7246.55 on Wednesday at a premium of 30.85 points over spot closing of 7,215.70, while Nifty March 2016 futures ended at 7264.40 at a premium of 48.70 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw addition of 0.10 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 18.66 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 25, 2016.                 

From the most active contracts, SBI February 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.70 points at 159.70 compared with spot closing of 159.00. The number of contracts traded were 29,765.          

ICICI Bank February 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.15 points at 207.65 compared with spot closing of 207.50. The number of contracts traded were 20,588.                       

Punjab National Bank February 2016 futures traded at a discount of 2.00 points at 77.75 compared with spot closing of 79.75. The number of contracts traded were 17,967.           

Axis Bank February 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.25 points at 396.05 compared with spot closing of 395.80. The number of contracts traded were 16,704.                                             

Tata Motors February 2016 futures traded at a premium of 3.75 points at 292.45 compared with spot closing of 288.70. The number of contracts traded were 17,511.  

Among Nifty calls, 7400 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1.14 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7200 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.20 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 7500 SP (5.99 mn) and that for Puts was at 7200 SP (5.04 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7265.78 --- Pivot Point 7221.77 --- Support --- 7171.68.        

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.89 for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Indian Overseas Bank (1.90), Godrej Consumer Products (1.67), Hero MotoCorp (1.45), Oil India (1.43) and Lupin (1.47).

Among most active underlying, Aurobindo Pharma Bank witnessed an addition of 1.20 million of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, followed by State Bank of India witnessing an addition of 1.20 million of Open Interest in the January month contract; Reliance Industries  witnessed a contraction of 0.35 million of Open Interest in the January month contract, Yes Bank witnessed a contraction of 0.35 million of Open Interest in the January month contract and Punjab National Bank witnessed an addition of 8.80 million units of Open Interest in the January month's future contract.