Nifty ends higher; settles above 10,600 mark

Surpassing its crucial psychological level of 10,600 mark, Indian equity benchmark Nifty ended higher on Tuesday with the gains of more than quarter a per cent. After a slightly cautious start, the index immediately entered into green terrain, as sentiments on the street were positive with Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs’ (EPCES) statement that exports from special economic zones (SEZs) jumped by 15% to Rs 5.52 lakh crore during the financial year 2018. It also said that in 2017-18, goods export from these zones stood at Rs 2.74 lakh crore, while shipments of services aggregated to Rs 2.78 lakh crore. Besides, sentiments remained positive after the World Bank in its latest Migration and Development Brief stated that India retained the top position as the largest recipient of remittances, with remittances from overseas Indians increasing nearly 10% in 2017. However, the traders booked profits in afternoon session as they turned cautious with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry report which estimated that India’s crude oil import bill may increase 20% to $105 billion in this financial year from $88 billion in 2017-18, assuming average crude oil price of $65 per barrel for the year, about $9 a barrel less than the current rate. But, the market came back in green terrain, supported by report that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections for March exceeded Rs 96,000 crore by April 23, the largest mop-up for any month since the comprehensive indirect tax’s launch in July last year. The report added that March collections could cross the coveted Rs 1 lakh crore mark by April-end, as payments are still being made by a section of taxpayers with late penalties. Some support also came with a report stating that several Thailand-based companies which are operating in India plan to invest around $3 billion in the next three years period in the areas of green and brown field projects including energy, infrastructure and metals.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Financial Services, PVT Bank and Reality, while selling was witnessed in IT, Media and Metal. The top gainers from the F&O segment were ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, GMR Infrastructure and Max Financial Services. On the other hand, the top losers were Reliance Naval and Engineering, Reliance Communications and National Aluminium Company. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 10,700-11,000 calls and 10,200-10,500 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 9.51% and reached 11.89. The 50-share Nifty was up by 29.65 points or 0.28% to settle at 10,614.35.

Nifty April 2018 futures closed at 10617.90 on Tuesday, at a premium of 3.55 points over spot closing of 10614.35, while Nifty May 2018 futures ended at 10642.15, at a premium of 27.80 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw a contraction of 3.49 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.18 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 premium of 0.65 points at 1154.90 compared with spot closing of 1154.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 33,375.

Reliance Industries April 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.05 points at 971.65 compared with spot closing of 971.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 33,069.

Yes Bank April 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.05 points at 324.20 compared with spot closing of 324.15. The numbers of contracts traded were 29,257.

Hindalco Industries April 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.80 points at 237.40 compared with spot closing of 236.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 26,093.

Tata Consultancy Services April 2018 futures traded at a premium of 10.45 points at 3390.45 compared with spot closing of 3380.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,242.

Among Nifty calls, 10600 SP from the April month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 0.45 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10500 SP from the April month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 0.81 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 10700 SP (4.49mn) and that for Puts was at 10500 SP (4.95mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10,644.43 ---- Pivot Point 10,606.72 --- Support --- 10576.63.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.64 for April month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bharti Airtel (1.24), Hindustan Unilever (1.19), Bajaj Finance (1.11), Eicher Motors (1.07) and Indusind Bank (1.05).

Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 7.39 million units of Open Interest in the April month futures contract, followed by Tata Consultancy Services witnessing a contraction of 1.15 million units of Open Interest in the April month contract, Hindalco Industries witnessed a contraction of 10.16 million units of Open Interest in the April month contract, Infosys witnessed a contraction of 10.63 million units of Open Interest in the April month contract and HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 3.75 million units of Open Interest in the April month future contract.