Nifty hits fresh record closing high; surpasses 10,650 mark

Surpassing crucial psychological level of 10,650, the local equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended at fresh closing high on Thursday. After a cautious start, the index continued its trade in red terrain till late morning, tracking weak cues from Asian markets. Some concerns also came ahead of key corporate earnings later this week and the budget next month. The sentiments also got hit with rating agency Care Ratings’ latest report that uptrend in crude oil price is likely to have a major impact on India's fiscal position. It further noted that higher prices of crude oil will increase the trade deficit and put pressure on the rupee. Moreover, investors took note of a report which highlights that the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has opposed Centre’s decision to allow 100% FDI in single brand retail via automatic route. CAIT has said that it is serious matter for small businesses and will hamper the welfare, upgradation and modernisation of existing retail trade. However, in noon deals, Nifty turned positive erasing all its losses and ended with fresh closing high, as traders took some support with Moody's latest report that India and China remain the fastest growth economies in Asia Pacific region. Besides, Crisil Ratings’ latest report which said that India Inc’s top-line (revenue) growth is likely to hit a five-year high of 9 percent in Q3 (October-December) 2017-18, too provided some strength to the market. The market participants also took some encouragement with the private report that economic indicators like PMIs, vehicle sales and steel demand suggest that growth momentum in India has gathered pace in December.

All the sectoral indices ended in green on the NSE except Metal. The top gainers from the F&O segment were IDFC Bank, IFCI and Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals. On the other hand, the top losers were Fortis Healthcare, Container Corporation of India and GMR Infrastructure.  In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 10400-11000 calls and 10000-10600 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 0.16% and reached 14.01. The 50-share Nifty was up by 19.00 points or 0.18% to settle at 10,651.20.

Nifty January 2018 futures closed at 10654.05 on Thursday, at a premium of 2.85 points over spot closing of 10651.20, while Nifty February 2018 futures ended at 10677.45, at a premium of 26.25 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw an addition of 0.05 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 28.52 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 25, 2018.

From the most active contracts, IndusInd Bank January 2018 futures traded at a discount of 6.20 points at 1694.50 compared with spot closing of 1700.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,046.

Infosys January 2018 futures traded at a discount of 1.15 points at 1075.35 compared with spot closing of 1076.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 21,186.

IDFC Bank January 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.70 points at 68.95 compared with spot closing of 68.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 19,035.

Jindal Steel & Power January 2018 futures traded at a premium of 2.45 points at 268.30 compared with spot closing of 265.85. The numbers of contracts traded were 18,102.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries January 2018 futures traded at a premium of 2.55 points at 590.00 compared with spot closing of 587.45. The numbers of contracts traded were 15,250.

Among Nifty calls, 10700 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.47 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10600 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 1.29 million open interests.  The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 11000 SP (4.49 mn) and that for Puts was at 10500 SP (8.20 mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10673.08--- Pivot Point 10642.72--- Support --- 10620.83.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.48 for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Jindal Steel & Power (1.35), Wockhardt (1.17), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (1.10), Tech Mahindra (1.09) and Tata Steel (1.03).

Among most active underlying, IndusInd Bank witnessed an addition of 0.32 million units of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, followed by Jindal Steel & Power witnessing  an addition of 4.55 million units of Open Interest in the January month contract, Infosys witnessed an addition of 0.87 million units of Open Interest in the January month contract, Tata Consultancy Services witnessed an addition of  0.16 million units of Open Interest in the January month contract and Maruti Suzuki India witnessed  an addition of 0.09 million units of Open Interest in the January month future contract.