Nifty ends below 8,150 mark on Thursday

Domestic equity index - Nifty ended lower on the Thursday on account of sustained selling by funds and retail investors in the blue chips counters amid weak cues from the global markets. Sentiment remained downbeat after the after Bank of Japan maintained status quo and refrained from adding fresh stimulus. Traders remained concerned with report that India's merchandise exports contracted again, albeit at their slowest pace in 18 months in May as non-petroleum exports finally turned positive, led by exports of engineering goods and gems and jewellery. Exports contracted at 0.79% in May while imports slipped 13.16%, leaving a trade deficit of $6.27 billion. Sentiment also remained dampened with India Meteorological Department (IMD) stating that the slow progress of the south-west monsoon has led to overall deficiency of rains by 22 per cent over the last fortnight. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha stated that the government is keeping a watch on the global risk factors to the economy, including Brexit, turmoil in the Middle East and spike in oil prices in the international market. On the global front, Asian markets ended lower, with Nikkei cracking over 3% on a rising Yen. The bank of Japan stance and cautious policy stance by the US Fed and Brexit fears further hurt sentiments. Following above tandem, European markets were trading down amid decline in crude oil prices.

Back home, after getting weak start, Indian equity benchmark extended its losses and was trading near day's low till early noon. Thereafter, market witnessed some recovery to end off day's low. Finally, Nifty ended the session with cut of below 70 points. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Allahabad Bank, Syndicate Bank and Andhra Bank. On the other hand, the top losers were Bharti Infratel, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and Ashok Leyland. In the index options segment, maximum OI was being seen in the 8000-8500 calls and 7000-8200 puts. In today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 8200 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7500 put. On the other hand, traders exited from 7600 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 3.77% and reached 17.69. The 50-share Nifty was down by 65.85 points or 0.80% to settle at 8,140.75.    

Nifty June 2016 futures closed at 8158.75 on Thursday at a premium of 18.00 points over spot closing of 8,140.75, while Nifty July 2016 futures ended at 8183.45 at a premium of 42.70 points over spot closing.  Nifty June futures saw contraction of 1.51 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 17.05 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 premium of 0.75 points at 215.80 compared with spot closing of 215.05. The number of contracts traded were 55,412.                  

ICICI Bank June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.55 points at 240.25 compared with spot closing of 238.70. The number of contracts traded were 19,431.             

Bank of Baroda June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 1.05 points at 152.30 compared with spot closing of 151.25. The number of contracts traded were 13,122.  

Vedanta June 2016 futures traded at a premium of 0.55 points at 122.85 compared with spot closing of 122.30. The number of contracts traded were 13,193.                 

Punjab National Bank June 2016 futures traded at a discount of 0.05 points at 92.60 compared with spot closing of 92.55. The number of contracts traded were 14,655.   

Among Nifty calls, 8200 SP from the June month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.29 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 8000 SP from the June month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 0.61 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 8300 SP (6.12 mn) and that for Puts was at 8000 SP (7.47 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 8189.45 --- Pivot Point 8131.95 --- Support --- 8083.25.             

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.20 for June month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Indo Count Industries (1.70), Apollo Hospital (1.57), Hindalco (1.35), Container Corporation of India (1.23) and Indusind Bank (1.19).    

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 1.38 million of Open Interest in the June month futures contract, followed Maruti Suzuki India witnessing a contraction of 0.07 million of Open Interest in the June month contract; Tata Motors  witnessed an contraction of 0.13 million of Open Interest in the June month contract, Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 0.07 million of Open Interest in the June month contract and Yes Bank witnessed a contraction of 0.35 million units of Open Interest in the June month's future contract.