Nifty ends flat on March F&O expiry

Domestic equity index -- Nifty -- ended last day of the financial year on flat note on Thursday as traders rolled their positions in the derivatives segment from March series to April series amid weak global cues. Traders got some suppote with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stating that Australian future and super funds be exposed to India, as he called for increase in investment by Australia businesses in India as they can get better returns on their investment. Some support also came with report that foreign institutional investors’ (FII) inflow in the Indian market so far this month is the highest single-month investment since February 2013. According to data from National Securities Depository and Securities and Exchange Board of India, FIIs have put in Rs 21,327 crore ($3.18 billion) so far in the Indian market during the current month (till March 29). On the global front, Asian equity markets ended mixed on Thursday despite U.S. stocks closing higher for the third straight session overnight to push further into positive territory for 2016. European shares fell on Thursday, retreating after solid gains made in the previous session following dovish comments from the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, while French telecom stocks underperformed.

Back home, after getting flat opening, Indian equity benchmark continued to trade in green for most part of the day and ended with modest gain.  The top gainers from the F&O segment were Page Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and Adani Power. On the other hand, the top losers were NMDC, Bharat Forge and Castrol India. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7550-8000 calls and 6500-7700 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7800 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7700 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7700 Call, while 7750 call witnessed considerable OI addition.    

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility decreased by 1.34% and reached 16.58. The 50-share Nifty was up by 3.20 points or 0.04% to settle at 7,738.40.   

Nifty April 2016 futures closed 7784.40 on Thursday at a premium of 46 points over spot closing of 7,738.40, while Nifty May 2016 futures ended at 7811.55 at a premium of 73.15 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw addition of 4.67 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 18.86 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on April 28, 2016.                         

From the most active contracts, SBI April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.35 points at 195.35 compared with spot closing of 194.00. The number of contracts traded were 20,765.        

ICICI Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 2.85 points at 237.75 compared with spot closing of 234.90. The number of contracts traded were 17,481.                         

HDFC Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 9.10 points at 1080.90 compared with spot closing of 1,071.80. The number of contracts traded were 20,725.                                                      

Reliance Industries April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 5.40 points at 1050.40 compared with spot closing of 1,045.00. The number of contracts traded were 16,879.  

Housing Development Finance Corporation April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 6.00 points at 1113.00 compared with spot closing of 1,107.00. The number of contracts traded were 17,022.  

Among Nifty calls, 7800 SP from the April month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1.85 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7700 SP from the April month expiry was the most active put with an contraction of 2.02 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 7800 SP (7.88 mn) and that for Puts was at 7600 SP (5.41 mn). The respective Support and  Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7776.67 --- Pivot Point 7739.33 --- Support --- 7701.07.            

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.86 for April month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Indian Overseas Bank (25.00), CESC (3.86), United Breweries (2.27), Castrol India (1.92) and Oil India (1.67).   

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 12.11 million of Open Interest in the April month futures contract, followed by Tata Steel witnessing a contraction of 4.11 million of Open Interest in the April month contract; Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 2.38 million of Open Interest in the April month contract, Infosys witnessed a contraction of 1.17 million of Open Interest in the April month contract and Tata Motors  witnessed a contraction of 4.39 million units of Open Interest in the April month's future contract.