Nifty extends losing streak for fourth straight session

Extending losing streak for fourth straight session, key Indian benchmark -- Nifty -- ended below its crucial 10,100 mark. Market started the session on a cautious note, as traders remained on sidelines ahead of an informal World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting to be held in New Delhi on March 19-20, where Representatives from 50 countries will be participating. The 50 nations will engage in free and frank discussions on global trade to explore the options for resolving various issues and re-invigorating the WTO. Selling got intensified as traders reacted negatively on report that India’s October-December current account deficit sharply widened from a year earlier on higher imports. The October-December current account deficit widened to 2.0% of gross domestic product, or $13.5 billion, compared with 1.4%, or $8.0 billion, in the same period a year ago. Negative global cues on the prospect of global trade war and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meet on March 20-21, kept denting traders’ sentiments. Traders failed to get any sense of relief with report that overseas investors have pumped in nearly Rs 6,400 crore in the segment in March so far on expectations of rebound in corporate earnings and easing of global oil prices.

All the sectoral indices ended in red on the NSE. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Nalco, NTPC and Power Grid. On the other hand, the top losers were IDBI, Bank of Baroda and Oriental Bank of Commerce. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 10,200-10,600 calls and 9,900-10,400 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 3.94% and reached 15.82. The 50-share Nifty was down by 100.90 points or 0.99% to settle at 10,094.25.

Nifty March 2018 futures closed at 10122.80 on Monday, at a premium of 28.55 points over spot closing of 10094.25, while Nifty April 2018 futures ended at 10158.25, at a premium of 64 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw a contraction of 0.75 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 23.03 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 28, 2018.

From the most active contracts, Tata Steel March 2018 futures traded at a premium of 3.65 points at 577.65 compared with spot closing of 574.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,764.

Bank of Baroda March 2018 futures traded at a premium of 1.60 points at 133.85 compared with spot closing of 132.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,742.

State Bank of India March 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.70 points at 248.60 compared with spot closing of 247.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,664.

Canara Bank March 2018 futures traded at a premium of 1.05 points at 265.00 compared with spot closing of 263.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 13,151.

Reliance Industries March 2018 futures traded at a premium of 4.20 points at 899.20 compared with spot closing of 895.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 12,897.

Among Nifty calls, 10200 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1.38 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 2.01 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 10500 SP (6.62mn) and that for Puts was at 10000 SP (4.65mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10,187.43 -- Pivot Point 10,131.37 -- Support -- 10,038.18.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 0.77 for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Allahabad Bank (1.19), Andhra Bank (1.15), Repco Home Finance (1.0), IndusInd Bank (0.99) and Canara Bank (0.99).

Among most active underlying, Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 1.15 million units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, followed by Reliance Industries State Bank of India witnessing a contraction of 0.83 million units of Open Interest in the March month contract, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 0.36 million units of Open Interest in the March month contract, Maruti Suzuki witnessed a contraction of 0.07 million units of Open Interest in the March month contract and DLF witnessed a contraction of 0.49 million units of Open Interest in the March month future contract.