Local equity benchmark Nifty ended the trading session on quiet note with a positive bias on Thursday. The index started on a positive note by touching a fresh milestones in the morning, buoyed by SBI’s latest research report ‘Ecowrap’ stating that the country’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.7 percent in the April-June quarter on the back of pick up in leading indicators like cement production, sale of vehicles and bank credit. However, Nifty soon turned negative and started trading slightly in red terrain, as some cautiousness came with NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that he was more concerned about the rising trade deficit than the falling rupee, and called for efforts to push exports. Domestic sentiments also got hit with a report that government has imposed standard conditions for as many as 25 sectors like steel, coal and oil, seeking environment clearance (EC) for expansion of existing projects or new projects.
In the early noon deals, market recovered all their losses to end marginally in green, as traders took some solace with a report that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has extended the deadline by two months till December for providing a list of beneficial owners, and assured them that issues raised will be looked into by an expert panel, giving relief to foreign portfolio investors. Some optimism also came with a report of Global Macro Outlook for 2018-19, Moody's said the run-up in energy prices over the last few months will raise headline inflation temporarily but the growth story remains intact as it is supported by strong urban and rural demand and improved industrial activity. However, gains remained capped on report that the US has announced hefty preliminary anti-dumping duties on metal pipes imported from India, China and four other countries, in an aggressive tactic by the Trump administration to protect the American industry and lower the trade deficit.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Pharma, IT and FMCG, while selling was witnessed in Metal, PSU Bank and Media. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Marico, Nestle India and United Breweries. On the other hand, the top losers were Mahanagar Gas, Tata Motors and PC Jeweller. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 11,400-11,700 calls and 11,200- 11,500 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 1.20% and reached 12.74. The 50-share Nifty was up by 11.85 points or 0.10% to settle at 11,570.90.
Nifty August 2018 futures closed at 11,595.40 on Thursday, at a premium of 12.65 points over spot closing of 11,582.75, while Nifty September 2018 futures ended at 11634.80, at a premium of 52.05 points over spot closing. Nifty August futures saw an addition of 0.10 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 30.27 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on August 30, 2018.
From the most active contracts, Larsen & Toubro August 2018 futures traded at a premium of 2.05 points at 1352.00 compared with spot closing of 1349.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 29,750.
Reliance Industries August 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.20 points at 1267.10 compared with spot closing of 1266.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 26,493.
State Bank of India August 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.70 points at 303.15 compared with spot closing of 302.45. The numbers of contracts traded were 22,869.
Axis Bank August 2018 futures traded at a discount of 1.00 points at 633.00 compared with spot closing of 634.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 22,802.
Tata Motors August 2018 futures traded at a premium of 1.10 points at 257.65 compared with spot closing of 256.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 22,394.
Among Nifty calls, 11600 SP from the August month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.12 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 11500 SP from the August month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.37 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 11,600 SP (3.53mn) and that for Puts was at 11,500 SP (4.59mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 11,620.07 ---- Pivot Point 11,583.38 --- Support --- 11,546.07.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.60 for August month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Dish TV (2.18), Reliance Industries (1.42), ACC (1.37), Havells India (1.29) and Axis Bank (1.26).
Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 1.41 million units of Open Interest in the August month futures contract, followed by Larsen & Toubro witnessing a contraction of 0.20 million units of Open Interest in the August month contract, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 9.03 million units of Open Interest in the August month contract, Maruti Suzuki India witnessed a contraction of 0.05 million units of Open Interest in the August month contract and Axis Bank witnessed a contraction of 1.99 million units of Open Interest in the August month future contract.
