Nifty ends higher for second straight day

Domestic equity index -- Nifty -- ended higher on Tuesday, on account of buying by funds and retail investors in the blue chip counters ahead of IIP and inflation data scheduled to be released later in the day. Buying in the auto, oil & gas and pharma stocks too supported market mood. Investor’s sentiment was boosted with private agency -- Skymet reports that the monsoon rains are expected to be 105 percent above a long-term average, with a 35 percent probability of above average rainfall. Further, support also came in with global rating agency -- Fitch Ratings’ statement that it expects India’s GDP growth to gradually accelerate to 7.7 percent in the current fiscal and 7.9 percent in FY18. On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday as investors awaited corporate earnings results at home and abroad. European stocks reversed losses to trader higher on Tuesday following a choppy session in Asia and caution ahead of the second quarter earnings season in the U.S.

Back home, after making a flat opening, Indian equity markets has showed some upmove and continued to trade in green throughout the session. Finally, Nifty ended with gain of over 37 points.  The top gainers from the F&O segment were Wockhardt, Jain Irrigation Systems and Petronet LNG. On the other hand, the top losers were Havells India, Coal India and Jubilant Foodworks. 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 7300 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7700 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 8200 Call, while 7950 call witnessed considerable OI addition.  

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 0.08% and reached 16.02. The 50-share Nifty was up by 37.55 points or 0.49% to settle at 7,708.95.   

Nifty April 2016 futures closed 7732.80 on Tuesday at a premium of 23.85 points over spot closing of 7,708.95, while Nifty May 2016 futures ended at 7764.60 at a premium of 55.65 points over spot closing.  Nifty April futures saw contraction of 0.50 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 14.86 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 0.15 points at 188.15 compared with spot closing of 188.00. The number of contracts traded were 15,073.        

ICICI Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.25 points at 229.05 compared with spot closing of 228.80. The number of contracts traded were 12,329.                          

Axis Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.50 points at 435.10 compared with spot closing of 434.60. The number of contracts traded were 10,769.                                                      

Tata Steel April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.45 points at 325.20 compared with spot closing of 324.75. The number of contracts traded were 18,812.   

Tata Motors April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.25 points at 396.75 compared with spot closing of 395.50. The number of contracts traded were 11,580. 

Among Nifty calls, 7700 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.19 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7600 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.63 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8000 SP (8.23 mn) and that for Puts was at 7500 SP (5.09 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7729.78 --- Pivot Point 7696.57 --- Support --- 7675.73.            

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.90 for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were United Breweries (1.57), Bajaj Finance (1.57), CESC (1.50), McLeod Russel India (1.24) and Castrol India (1.20).  

Among most active underlying, Tata Steel witnessed an addition of 0.88 million of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, followed by Maruti Suzuki India witnessing a contraction of 0.07 million of Open Interest in the March month contract; State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 0.73 million of Open Interest in the March month contract, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 0.75 million of Open Interest in the March month contract and Tata Motors witnessed an addition of 0.71 million units of Open Interest in the March month's future contract.