Nifty settles just shy of 10,350 mark

Key Indian benchmark Nifty closed in green on Thursday, settling just shy of psychological 10,350 mark. After starting on a cautious note, the index altered between green and red territory as weak leads from global markets weighed on the sentiments. Besides, some concerns also came with the private report stating that the trade deficit has ballooned to $88 billion between April and October, up 60 percent from the comparable period a year ago due to weak exports and a sharp rise in imports. However, the Nifty managed to keep its head above neutral line, taking support from rating agency Moody’s latest report expecting an improvement in the credit profiles of India Inc next year, driven by better sales as it expects GST-related disruptions to wane, leading to an all-round recovery in economic activities. Some support also came with NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that India GDP growth rate in Q2 is likely at 6.2-6.3% and for the full year could be closer to 7% and for Second-half growth has to be 7.5%. Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet has given its green signal to India’s membership for European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in a move to enhance India's international profile and promote its economic interests.

Traders were seen piling up positions in IT, Media and Pharma stocks, while selling was witnessed in Auto, Metal and PSU Banking stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Fortis Healthcare, JSW Energy and BEML. On the other hand, the top losers were Max Financial Services, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company and United Breweries. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 10300-10800 calls and 9900-10400 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 1.22% and reached 13.86. The 50-share Nifty was up by 6.45 points or 0.06% to settle at 10,348.75.

Nifty November 2017 futures closed at 10366.65 on Thursday, at a premium of 17.90 points over spot closing of 10348.75, while Nifty December 2017 futures ended at 10400.55, at a premium of 51.80 points over spot closing. Nifty November futures saw a contraction of 0.55 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.18 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on November 30, 2017.

From the most active contracts, Infosys November 2017 futures traded at a premium of 1.05 point at 992.20 compared with spot closing of 991.15. The numbers of contracts traded were 18,549.

Reliance Industries November 2017 futures traded at a discount of 2.75 points at 946.95 compared with spot closing of 949.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 15,978.

State Bank of India November 2017 futures traded at a discount of 0.15 points at 335.80 compared with spot closing of 335.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 13,050.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries November 2017 futures traded at a premium of 0.60 points at 546.60 compared with spot closing of 546.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 12,888.

Yes Bank November 2017 futures traded at a discount of 0.65 points at 314.75 compared with spot closing of 315.40. The numbers of contracts traded were 12,759.

Among Nifty calls, 10400 SP from the November month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.19 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10300 SP from the November month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.58 million open interests.  The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 10500 SP (6.29 mn) and that for Puts was at 10300 SP (6.02 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10379.60--- Pivot Point 10343.45--- Support --- 10312.60.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.04 for November month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Godrej Consumer Products (3.87), JSW Energy (2.33), Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (1.38), Maruti Suzuki India (1.32) and DLF (1.31).

Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 1.87 million units of Open Interest in the November month futures contract, followed by State Bank of India witnessing  a contraction of 0.64 million units of Open Interest in the November month contract, Infosys witnessed a contraction of 0.77 million units of Open Interest in the November month contract, Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of  0.53 million units of Open Interest in the November month contract and Tata Motors witnessed  a contraction of 1.99 million units of Open Interest in the November month future contract.