Nifty ends at new record high

Buoyed by firm European markets, Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended the day at fresh record high on Thursday with gains of half a percent. Sentiments remained upbeat following strong earnings reported by the country's biggest private lender ICICI Bank and the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep its policy rate unchanged. The Bank has reported a jump of around three-fold in its net profit at Rs 2,024.64 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as compared to Rs 701.89 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Banking stocks also gave a major impetus to the rally after the Union Cabinet cleared a nonperforming asset (NPA) resolution package that includes an ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to deal with bad assets more effectively. The move will likely kick off a long-awaited initiative aimed at cleaning up bank balance sheets of bad debt. Sentiments also got a boost with Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that post-demonetisation and GST regime, India's revenue receipts are likely to touch Rs 28-30 lakh crore in the next two years coupled with steps to strengthen infrastructure. However, investors shrugged off survey data from IHS Markit showing that India's private sector logged a slower growth in April. The composite output index fell to 51.3 from 52.3 in March.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Banking, Financial Services and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Media and Metal stocks.  The top gainers from the F&O segment were ICICI Bank, V-Guard Industries and Union Bank of India.  On the other hand, the top losers were CEAT, Vedanta and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 9200-9700 calls and 8500-9400 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility decreased by 1.69% and reached 11.33. The 50-share Nifty was up by 47.95 points or 0.51% to settle at 9,359.90.

Nifty May 2017 futures closed at 9376.95 on Thursday at a premium of 17.05 points over spot closing of 9359.90, while Nifty June 2017 futures ended at 9376.85, at a premium of 16.95 points over spot closing. Nifty May futures saw an addition of 0.16 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 19.68 million (mn) units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on May 25, 2017.

From the most active contracts, ICICI Bank May 2017 futures traded at a premium of 0.65 points at 298.20 compared with spot closing of 297.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 82,425.

Axis Bank May 2017 futures traded at a premium of 3.50 points at 521.50 compared with spot closing of 518.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,315.

State Bank of India May 2017 futures traded at a premium of 0.50 points at 300.30 compared with spot closing of 299.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 29,145.

Punjab National Bank May 2017 futures traded at a discount of 1.55 points at 178.45 compared with spot closing of 180.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 16,728.

Tata Steel May 2017 futures traded at a premium of 3.00 points at 444.90 compared with spot closing of 441.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 14,151.

Among Nifty calls, 9400 SP from the May month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.21 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 9300 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 1.10 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 9500 SP (4.92 mn) and that for Puts was at 9300 SP (5.72 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 9375.95--- Pivot Point 9349.60--- Support --- 9333.55.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.15 for May month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Balkrishna Industries (2.50), Infibeam Incorporation (2.07), Hero Motocorp (1.40), Britannia Industries (1.25) and Torrent Power (1.22).

Among most active underlying, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 3.63 million units of Open Interest in the May month futures contract, followed by State Bank of India witnessing a contraction of 3.45 million units of Open Interest in the May  month contract, Axis Bank witnessed an addition of 2.32 million units of Open Interest in the May month contract, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 0.67 million units of Open Interest in the May  month future contract and Tata Steel witnessed an addition of 1.25 million units of Open Interest in the May month future contract.