Nifty ends lower amid weak global cues

Domestic equity index --Nifty -- ended lower on Friday on account of selling by fund and retail investors in the blue chip counters amid weak global cues. Sentiments were under pressure with India Ratings and Research stating that the new fiscal (FY17) is likely to remain challenging for corporate India and corporate are unlikely to take up new investments on weaker credit conditions than in 2015-16. Further, sentiment also remained downbeat with the Centre’s fiscal deficit increasing to Rs 5.73 lakh crore or 107.1 per cent of the FY16 revised estimate in first 11 months of the year, but officials expressed confidence that the full-year deficit estimate of 3.9 per cent of the GDP would be met.  Besides, some cautiousness too previled in the market ahead of US jobs data today.

On the global front, Asian markets ended lower with Japanese shares declining the most after weak PMI data for March. Japan manufacturing PMI eased to 49.1 in March.  European markets were trading lower with energy shares leading the decline tracking weak crude oil prices.

Back home, after getting weak start, Nifty continued to trade lackluster throughout the day and ended with a cut of over 25 points.  The top gainers from the F&O segment were Jaiprakash Associates, Unitech and Syndicate Bank. On the other hand, the top losers were Bosch, Bharti Airtel and Shriram Transport Finance Company. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7500-8200 calls and 7000-7700 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7800 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7500 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7500 Call, while 8000 call witnessed considerable OI addition.  

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 4.19% and reached 17.27. The 50-share Nifty was down by 25.35 points or 0.33% to settle at 7,713.05.   

Nifty April 2016 futures closed 7748.75 on Friday at a premium of 35.70 points over spot closing of 7,713.05, while Nifty May 2016 futures ended at 7776.20 at a premium of 63.15 points over spot closing.  Nifty April futures saw contraction of 0.35 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 18.51 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 1.70 points at 196.95 compared with spot closing of 195.25. The number of contracts traded were 23,620.        

ICICI Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.40 points at 239.10 compared with spot closing of 237.70. The number of contracts traded were 14,011.                         

DLF April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.85 points at 121.60 compared with spot closing of 120.75. The number of contracts traded were 11,170.                                                      

Axis Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.30 points at 450.90 compared with spot closing of 449.60. The number of contracts traded were 17,086.  

Bharat Heavy Electricals April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.50 points at 117.50 compared with spot closing of 116.00. The number of contracts traded were 13,095.   

Among Nifty calls, 7800 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.07 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7700 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.19 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8000 SP (5.58 mn) and that for Puts was at 7500 SP (4.42 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7746.77 --- Pivot Point 7706.43 --- Support --- 7672.72.            

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.96 for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Indian Overseas Bank (13.00), CESC (3.11), United Breweries (1.63), Castrol India (1.50) and Bosch (1.50).  

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 4.01 million of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, followed by Reliance Infrastructure witnessing an addition of 0.48 million of Open Interest in the March month contract; DLF witnessed an addition of 2.59 million of Open Interest in the March month contract, Tata Steel witnessed an addition of 0.72 million of Open Interest in the March month contract and Axis Bank witnessed an addition of 0.80 million units of Open Interest in the March month's future contract.