Nifty ends higher for sixth straight session

The local equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended higher for the sixth straight session on Thursday, with the gains of 0.40 percent. The index made a cautious start but immediately entered into green terrain, supported by a foreign brokerage report highlighting that FDI inflows have increased by 34% to an average of $10.2 billion quarterly since the NDA-government assumed power in 2014. The report added that India remains a preferred destination for global investors. Domestic sentiments were upbeat with a report stating that India has jumped 13 places in the last one year to earn 130th spot in the latest annual Index of Economic Freedom released by a top American think-tank. In 2017, India with a score of 52.6 points was ranked at 143 among 180 countries, two spots below neighbor Pakistan. Traders took note of IMF chief Christine Lagarde’s statement that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is optimistic on the outlook for global growth but warned darker clouds are looming due to fading fiscal stimulus and rising interest rates. Besides, the market participants paid no heed towards the Reserve Bank of India’s latest ‘Union Budget 2018-19: An Assessment’ study report which highlighted that the country’s social sector expenditure, primarily constituting health and education continues to remain woefully below peers, in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Traders were seen piling up positions in IT, PVT Bank and Fin Services, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Reality and PSU Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Dish TV, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services. On the other hand, the top losers were Balrampur Chini Mills, Adani Enterprises and GMR Infrastructure. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 10,600-10,800 calls and 10,000-10,300 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 1.34% and reached 14.52. The 50-share Nifty was up by 41.50 points or 0.40% to settle at 10,458.65.

Nifty April 2018 futures closed at 10465.00 on Thursday, at a premium of 6.35 points over spot closing of 10458.65, while Nifty May 2018 futures ended at 10492.95, at a premium of 34.3 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw an addition of 1.07 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 24.76 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on April 26, 2018.

From the most active contracts, Infosys April 2018 futures traded at a discount of 2.00 points at 1162.05 compared with spot closing of 1164.05. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,196.

Tata Consultancy Services April 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.05 points at 3136.05 compared with spot closing of 3136.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 19,129.

Bharat Petroleum April 2018 futures traded at a premium of 2.55 points at 419.55 compared with spot closing of 417.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 16,113.

Tata Motors April 2018 futures traded at a discount of 0.35 points at 358.20 compared with spot closing of 358.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 16,005.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation April 2018 futures traded at a premium of 2.30 points at 338.25 compared with spot closing of 335.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 15,913.

Among Nifty calls, 10500 SP from the April month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.59 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10400 SP from the April month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 1.32 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 10600 SP (3.90mn) and that for Puts was at 10300 SP (5.54mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10,487.28 ---- Pivot Point 10,441.27 --- Support --- 10412.63.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.37 for April month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bajaj Finance (1.32), Godrej Consumer Products (1.26), Axis Bank (1.24), ICICI Bank (1.23) and Hindalco (1.17).

Among most active underlying, Infosys witnessed a contraction of 0.87 million units of Open Interest in the April month futures contract, followed by Tata Consultancy Services witnessing an addition of 1.23 million units of Open Interest in the April month contract, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 2.72 million units of Open Interest in the April month contract, Titan witnessed a contraction of 0.37 million units of Open Interest in the April month contract and ICICI Bank witnessed a contraction of 3.51 million units of Open Interest in the April month future contract.