Nifty ends below 7,000 mark amid weak global cues

The fifty stock index -- Nifty -- ended over 3 percent on Thursday to its lowest since May 2014 after Fed chair Janet Yellen kept options open for more US rate hikes. Yellen told Congress she does not expect to reverse the rate hike programme that began in December but said she saw risks to the US economy. further, sentiment also remained weak on report that the India continues to report over 7 percent GDP growth, but its momentum has weakened and the country's growth is well ‘below trend’. Besides, caution also prevailed in the market ahead of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) data due tomorrow.  After a weak opening, Nifty never looked in recovery mood and ended the trade intraday low, breaching its psychological level of 7000. On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower, as investors digested remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and oil remained volatile. European markets were trading lower around three per cent, led by a renewed drop in banks and miners.

The top gainers from the F&O segment were Bharti Infratel, Cipla and Divi's Laboratories. On the other hand, the top losers were Unitech, GMR Infrastructure and Oriental Bank of Commerce. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7000-8000 calls and 6800-7500 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7300 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 6700 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7700 Call, while 7200 call witnessed considerable OI addition.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 15.58% and reached 25.96. The 50-share Nifty was down by 239.35 points or 3.32% to settle at 6,976.35.   

Nifty February 2016 futures closed 6993.45 on Thursday at a premium of 17.10 points over spot closing of 6,976.35, while Nifty March 2016 futures ended at 7011.55 at a premium of 35.20 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw addition of 1.09 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 19.75 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 discount of 0.15 points at 154.45 compared with spot closing of 154.60. The number of contracts traded were 74,813.          

ICICI Bank February 2016 futures traded at a discount of 1.85 points at 198.15 compared with spot closing of 200.00. The number of contracts traded were 25,987.                       

Axis Bank February 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.75 points at 378.10 compared with spot closing of 376.35. The number of contracts traded were 17,299.                                              

Tata Motors February 2016 futures traded at a premium of 5.80 points at 277.10 compared with spot closing of 271.30. The number of contracts traded were 22,558.                  

Reliance Industries February 2016 futures traded at a premium of 2.60 points at 926.60 compared with spot closing of 924.00. The number of contracts traded were 19,820.

Among Nifty calls, 7300 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.52 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7000 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.69 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 7500 SP (6.55 mn) and that for Puts was at 7000 SP (5.24 mn).  The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7136.68 --- Pivot Point 7048.32 --- Support --- 6887.98.        

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.81 for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Godrej Consumer Products (2.33), Indian Overseas Bank (1.63), Oil India (1.57), Hero MotoCorp (1.42) and Lupin (1.20). 

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 1.60 million of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, followed by Reliance Industries witnessing a contraction of 0.78 million of Open Interest in the January month contract; Tata Motors witnessed an addition of 0.35 million of Open Interest in the January month contract, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 0.09 million of Open Interest in the January month contract and Yes Bank witnessed a contraction of 0.05 million units of Open Interest in the January month's future contract.