Nifty ends below 7,900 mark amid weak global cues

Domestic equity index -- Nifty -- ended with marginal losses on Friday on account of profit booked by fund and retail investors in the some select stocks. Disappointing global cues coupled with weak rupee against dollar too dampened sentiments. Investors remained cautious as they looked forward to earnings show of blue-chip companies, including Reliance Industries, which is set to release its numbers after trading hours. Traders failed to draw any sense of relief with Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant’s statement that India needs to grow at ten percent to become ten trillion dollar economy and eliminate poverty by 2032. He also said a growth rate of ten percent would also help in creation of 175 million jobs by 2032.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red, tracking losses in the US equities after weak earnings from US blue chip companies snapped the four day rally. European stocks were trading in red, weighed down by fall in auto stocks on worries that the emissions scandal could spread to more car makers.

Back home, after getting negative start, Market traded between positive and negative territory throughout the session and finally ended with marginal loss. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 7700-8200 calls and 7000-7900 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7600 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7850 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7800 Call, while 8100 call witnessed considerable OI addition.   

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility decreased by 0.80% and reached 16.38. The 50-share Nifty was down by 12.75 points or 0.16% to settle at 7,899.30.   

Nifty April 2016 futures closed 7911.15 on Friday at a premium of 11.85 points over spot closing of 7,899.30, while Nifty May 2016 futures ended at 7952.10 at a premium of 52.80 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw contraction of 0.28 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 15.68 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on April 28, 2016.                         

From the most active contracts, Reliance Communications April 2016 futures were trading flat compared with spot closing of 57.10. The number of contracts traded were 11,654.               

SBI April 2016 futures traded at a discount of 0.15 points at 200.10 compared with spot closing of 200.25. The number of contracts traded were 32,654.         

ICICI Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.35 points at 252.55 compared with spot closing of 252.20. The number of contracts traded were 20,386.          

Axis Bank April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.50 points at 475.30 compared with spot closing of 474.80. The number of contracts traded were 14,576.                                                      

Tata Steel April 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.75 points at 354.55 compared with spot closing of 353.80. The number of contracts traded were 15,836.

Among Nifty calls, 8000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.16 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 7900 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.05 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8000 SP (7.33 mn) and that for Puts was at 7800 SP (6.60 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 7923.98 --- Pivot Point 7898.67 --- Support --- 7873.98.            

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.17 for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bajaj Finance (1.92), Indian Overseas Bank (1.39), Tata Steel (1.26), CESC (1.25) and Axis Bank (1.18).  

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 0.70 million of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, followed by Maruti Suzuki India witnessing a contraction of 0.13 million of Open Interest in the March month contract; Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 0.40 million of Open Interest in the March month contract, Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 0.28 million of Open Interest in the March month contract and HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 2.04 million units of Open Interest in the March month's future contract.