Nifty ends lower amid weak global cues

Domestic equity index -- Nifty ended lower on Thursday on account of sustained selling by funds and retail investors amid weak global cues. Sentiments were under pressure with the concern over the rising crude oil prices that will adversely impact India's fiscal deficit situation and will increase fuel price inflation, as India imports about 80% of its crude requirements. Weak opening of the European markets has further dampened sentiments. . Investors also failed to draw any sense of relief from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that his dream was to economically empower every Indian by 2022, the 75th anniversary of India's Independence Day. Investors also overlooked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan's statement that India’s growth is picking up further with more animal spirit and good monsoon and public investment picking up pace.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower, as investors weigh risks amid the Federal Reserve's cautious stance about tightening rates and weak data from both China and Japan added to global growth concerns, despite gains on Wall Street overnight and steadier oil and metal prices. European markets were trading lower for a second straight day, with a fall in Vodafone weighing on the telecom sector and Essentra hit by a profit warning.

Back home, after making a weak opening, Indian equity benchmark extended its early loss and continued to trade under pressure throughout the session. Finally, Nifty ended with cut of over 69 points. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Steel Authority of India, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation and Hindustan Zinc. On the other hand, the top losers were Aurobindo Pharma, KPIT Technologies and Infosys. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 8000-8500 calls and 7000-8300 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7800 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7000 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 8600 Call, while 8200 call witnessed considerable OI addition.    

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market's short term expectation of volatility increased by 3.50% and reached 15.67. The 50-share Nifty was down by 69.45 points or 0.84% to settle at 8,203.60.   

Nifty June 2016 futures closed at 8229.35 on Thursday at a premium of 25.75 points over spot closing of 8,203.60, while Nifty July 2016 futures ended at 8256.75 at a premium of 53.15 points over spot closing.  Nifty June futures saw addition of 5,550 units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.50 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 0.10 points at 209.40 compared with spot closing of 209.50. The number of contracts traded were 34,306.                  

ICICI Bank June 2016 futures traded at a discount of 3.30 points at 250.75 compared with spot closing of 254.05. The number of contracts traded were 16,266.            

Vedanta June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.75 points at 113.40 compared with spot closing of 112.65. The number of contracts traded were 9,273.  

Punjab National Bank June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.25 points at 82.55 compared with spot closing of 82.30. The number of contracts traded were 9,597.                

Tata Motors June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 2.40 points at 469.10 compared with spot closing of 466.70. The number of contracts traded were 11,684.   

Among Nifty calls, 8300 SP from the June month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.20 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8200 SP from the June month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 0.09 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8300 SP (5.18 mn) and that for Puts was at 8100 SP (6.62 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8256.43 --- Pivot Point 8220.52 --- Support --- 8167.68.             

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.29 for June month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Apollo Hospital (1.67), Maruti Suzuki India (1.41), Indusind Bank (1.27), Container Corporation of India (1.21) and Yes Bank (1.01).    

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 2.10 million of Open Interest in the June month futures contract, followed Infosys witnessing an addition of 0.92 million of Open Interest in the June month contract; Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 0.97 million of Open Interest in the June month contract, Tata Motors witnessed an addition of 0.43 million of Open Interest in the June month contract and Tata Steel witnessed an addition of 0.62 million units of Open Interest in the June month's future contract.