Nifty ends above 8,200 mark on Thursday

Domestic equity index -- Nifty -- ended higher on Thursday on account of buying by funds and retail investors in some specific sectors as banking and Metal amid firm cues from the European markets. Investors' sentiment turned positive after India Meteorological Department report that it expects favorable conditions for advance of the monsoon towards the Bay of Bengal in the next two days.  Further, sentiments were upbeat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that the roll-out of GST will convert India into one common market, prevent tax-on-tax and make goods and services cheaper. He also said that the country is on an 'upward curve' and a good monsoon, GST passage and increased infra and rural spending will further accelerate the growth. Some support also came in with Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das' statement that the Indian economy is well poised to touch 8% growth rate in 2016-17 on the back of a good monsoon. He said the overall macroeconomic numbers and fiscal parameters of the country are very robust. 

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher, however Japanese stocks slumped as yen strength persisted. European markets were trading higher, as investors looked ahead to the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank (ECB) and an OPEC summit in Vienna.

Back home, after making a negative start, Indian equity benchmark continued to trade choppy for the most part of day, as market participants were keenly watching out for the European Central Bank (ECB) and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meet scheduled today. However, value buying witnessed in the last leg of trade that lifted the market into green and finally ended with gain of over 38 points. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Crompton Greaves, Engineers India and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were Just Dial, Cadila Healthcare and KPIT Technologies. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 8000-8500 calls and 7000-8100 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 8000 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 8100 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 8200 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 4.72% and reached 15.08. The 50-share Nifty was down by 39.00 points or 0.48% to settle at 8,218.95.   

Nifty June 2016 futures closed at 8243.25 on Thursday at a premium of 24.30 points over spot closing of 8,218.95, while Nifty July 2016 futures ended at 8263.60 at a premium of 44.65 points over spot closing.  Nifty June futures saw addition of 0.02 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.25 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on June 30, 2016.                              

From the most active contracts, State Bank of India June 2016 futures traded at a discount of 1.45 points at 199.15 compared with spot closing of 200.60. The number of contracts traded were 31,691.                

ICICI Bank June 2016 futures traded at a discount of 2.80 points at 238.15 compared with spot closing of 240.95. The number of contracts traded were 13,449.           

Tata Motors June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.90 points at 454.90 compared with spot closing of 453.00. The number of contracts traded were 19,452.  

Tata Steel June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.15 points at 342.05 compared with spot closing of 341.90. The number of contracts traded were 11,384.                

Reliance Industries June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 8.35 points at 963.70 compared with spot closing of 955.35. The number of contracts traded were 10,680. 

Among Nifty calls, 8300 SP from the May month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.35 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8100 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.49 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8400 SP (4.33 mn) and that for Puts was at 8000 SP (6.24 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8247.38 --- Pivot Point 8201.07 --- Support --- 8172.63.             

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.18 for May month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Indusind Bank (1.46), Maruti Suzuki India (1.38), Idea Cellular (1.08), Mindtree (1.05) and United Breweries (1.03).   

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 4.42 million of Open Interest in the May month futures contract, followed Tata Motors  witnessing a contraction of 1.88 million of Open Interest in the May month contract; Yes Bank witnessed an addition of 0.48 million of Open Interest in the May month contract, Axis Bank witnessed an addition of 0.80 million of Open Interest in the May month contract and Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 0.18 million units of Open Interest in the May month's future contract.