Nifty ends flat but at fresh record closing high

Indian benchmark Nifty altered between green and red territory throughout the session and ended on a flat note, but at fresh record closing high on Tuesday. The index managed to close on positive note as traders took encouragement with statement of NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, who has pitched for fiscal stimulus to boost growth with a rider that additional expenditure should be used only for increasing productivity and capital expenditure. Adding to the optimism, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said that getting investment in the infrastructure sector and bankruptcy reforms are the two issues which are on the top of the government's agenda. However, gains remained capped as investors turned cautious ahead of key corporate results along with geopolitical tensions after North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador warned a nuclear war may break out any moment. Traders also took note of the report stating that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested India to consider setting up an independent fiscal council, as introduction of this institution contributed to better outcomes in the countries where it has been introduced. 

Traders were seen piling up positions in Pharma, Realty and Metal stocks, while selling was witnessed in Financial Services, IT and Media stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Idea Cellular, SREI Infrastructure Finance and Reliance Capital. On the other hand, the top losers were Zee Entertainment Enterprises, DCB Bank and Kajaria Ceramics. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 9900-10500 calls and 9500-10200 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility increased by 2.65% and reached 11.61. The 50-share Nifty was up by 3.60 points or 0.04% to settle at 10,234.45.

Nifty October 2017 futures closed at 10253.70 on Tuesday at a premium of 19.25 points over spot closing of 10234.45, while Nifty November 2017 futures ended at 10285.30 at a premium of 50.85 points over spot closing. Nifty October futures saw an addition of 0.04 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 26.79 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on October 26, 2017.

From the most active contracts, Axis Bank October 2017 futures traded at a premium of 2.30 point at 513.80 compared with spot closing of 511.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 20,891.

Bharti Airtel October 2017 futures traded at a premium of 2.70 points at 467.70 compared with spot closing of 465.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 14,215.

Reliance Industries October 2017 futures traded at a premium of 2.50 points at 877.30 compared with spot closing of 874.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 12,031.

Bajaj Auto October 2017 futures traded at a premium of 15.20 points at 3270.30 compared with spot closing of 3255.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 11,992.

Idea Cellular October 2017 futures traded at a premium of 0.30 points at 90.05 compared with spot closing of 89.75. The numbers of contracts traded were 11,680.

Among Nifty calls, 10300 SP from the October month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.18 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10200 SP from the October month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.32 million open interests.  The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 10200 SP (3.34 mn) and that for Puts was at 10000 SP (7.01 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10253.33--- Pivot Point 10232.97--- Support --- 10214.08.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.67 for October month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (5.54), Oracle Financial Services Software (1.87), Bharti Airtel (1.84), Ramco Cements (1.83) and Torrent Pharmaceuticals (1.79).

Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 1.25 million units of Open Interest in the October month futures contract, followed by Axis Bank witnessing an addition of 2.64 million units of Open Interest in the October month contract, the Federal Bank witnessed a contraction of 5.48 million units of Open Interest in the October month contract, Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of  0.70 million units of Open Interest in the October month contract and Bharti Airtel witnessed a contraction of 0.03 million units of Open Interest in the October month future contract.