Nifty ends marginally lower on Thursday

Domestic equity index -- Nifty -- ended flat with negative bias on Thursday as investors booked profit at higher level in selects stock.  Market has made a gap up opening and extended its gain in morning deals as sentiment got boost with Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) stating that Indian business leaders continue to be the most optimistic lot globally about the country’s economic outlook for the second consecutive quarter owing to a strong GDP growth, recent policy announcements and regulatory changes. According to the Report a quarterly global survey of 2,500 business leaders across 36 economies, 90% of the respondents in India expressed confidence in the country's economic outlook.  Thereafter, market pared its all gain and finally ended with modest loss.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in green, on stronger oil prices, while Japan gaining on a stable yen. However, European shares slipped lower as attention turned to the ECB. The bank is expected to keep rates at record lows but may signal a willingness to ease policy again to boost inflation.

Bach home, the top gainers from the F&O segment were ICICI Bank, Rural Electrification Corporation and Punjab National Bank. On the other hand, the top losers were Wipro, Page Industries and Bharti Infratel. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7700-8200 calls and 7200-7900 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7300 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7800 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7800 Call, while 8000 call witnessed considerable OI addition.   

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility decreased by 3.29% and reached 16.51. The 50-share Nifty was down by 2.70 points or 0.03% to settle at 7,912.05.   

Nifty April 2016 futures closed 7913.35 on Thursday at a premium of 1.30 points over spot closing of 7,912.05, while Nifty May 2016 futures ended at 7951.75 at a premium of 39.70 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw contraction of 0.40 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 15.97 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 0.85 points at 194.35 compared with spot closing of 193.50. The number of contracts traded were 34,075.        

ICICI Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.85 points at 252.80 compared with spot closing of 250.95. The number of contracts traded were 34,254.          

Bank of Baroda April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.90 points at 158.10 compared with spot closing of 157.20. The number of contracts traded were 14,256.               

Axis Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.75 points at 467.60 compared with spot closing of 465.85. The number of contracts traded were 20,163.                                                      

HDFC Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.30 points at 1092.30 compared with spot closing of 1,091.00. The number of contracts traded were 14,360. 

Among Nifty calls, 8000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.69 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7900 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.08 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8000 SP (7.50 mn) and that for Puts was at 7800 SP (6.30 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7965.63 --- Pivot Point 7924.87 --- Support --- 7871.28.            

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.22 for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bajaj Finance (3.00), Castrol India (2.10), Tata Steel (1.62), Hindalco (1.26) and United Breweries (1.26).  

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 3.28 million of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, followed by ICICI Bank witnessing an addition of 0.91 million of Open Interest in the March month contract; Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 2.07 million of Open Interest in the March month contract, IndusInd Bank witnessed an addition of 0.21 million of Open Interest in the March month contract and Infosys witnessed an contraction of 0.36 million units of Open Interest in the March month's future contract.