Nifty ends flat on Wednesday

Domestic equity index -- Nifty -- ended flat on the Wednesday, as investors booked profit at higher level. Nifty has made a positive start as traders got some support with statement of Finance minister Arun Jaitley that India's economic growth could surge to 8.5%, especially if the monsoon is as bountiful as forecast, adding that he hopes interest rates will fall further as prices trend lower. However,  upside remained capped on report that India’s exports contracted by 5.47 percent to $22.71 billion in the month of march as shipments of petroleum and engineering products shrunk sharply due to tepid global demand. Further, some cautiousness too came in with Arun Jaitley stating that the global economic situation is grim and worrisome and that has prompted the nations to put up firewalls around their own systems to save themselves from the slowdown and grow within the limitations. Though, he also said that compared to the rest of the world, the Indian economy was growing much faster.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red, as oil prices skidded after Kuwaiti oil workers ended a three-day strike that had cut the nation's crude output by around half, with worries about an oversupplied market returning to the fore. However, European markets were trading mostly in green, with Germany’s DAX was up by 0.25% and France’s CAC was up by 0.19%, while UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 0.23%.

Back home, after getting a positive start, market were alternating between positive and negative territory throughout the session. Finally, market closed flat.  The top gainers from the F&O segment were Vedanta, Jindal Steel & Power and TV18 Broadcast. On the other hand, the top losers were The India Cements, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and LIC Housing Finance. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7600-8200 calls and 7000-7900 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7600 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7900 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 8000 Call, while 8100 call witnessed considerable OI addition.   
 

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 0.75% and reached 17.07. The 50-share Nifty was up by 0.05 points to settle at 7,914.75.   

Nifty April 2016 futures closed 7929.85 on Wednesday at a premium of 15.10 points over spot closing of 7,914.75, while Nifty May 2016 futures ended at 7969.90 at a premium of 55.15 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw addition of 0.51 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 16.37 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 0.35 points at 187.95 compared with spot closing of 187.60. The number of contracts traded were 21,881.        

Vedanta April 2016 futures traded at a discount of 0.40 points at 106.40 compared with spot closing of 106.80. The number of contracts traded were 16,782.   

ICICI Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.40 points at 239.15 compared with spot closing of 238.75. The number of contracts traded were 17,170.                          

Axis Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.15 points at 459.00 compared with spot closing of 458.85. The number of contracts traded were 19,867.                                                      

Tata Steel April 2016 futures traded at a discount of 0.85 points at 357.15 compared with spot closing of 358.00. The number of contracts traded were 27,083.    

Among Nifty calls, 8000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.63 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7900 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 1.36 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8000 SP (6.81 mn) and that for Puts was at 7500 SP (5.47 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7950.92 --- Pivot Point 7914.23 --- Support --- 7878.07.            

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.25 for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bajaj Finance (2.13), Castrol India (1.93), Tata Steel (1.56), Hindalco (1.35) and Hindustan Zinc (1.33).  

Among most active underlying, Tata Consultancy Services witnessed a contraction of 0.16 million of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, followed by Tata Steel witnessing an addition of 0.96 million of Open Interest in the March month contract; Infosys witnessed a contraction of 0.45 million of Open Interest in the March month contract, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 1.77 million of Open Interest in the March month contract and Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 0.61 million units of Open Interest in the March month's future contract.