Nifty ends on mildly higher note; holds 10,500 mark

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- pared most of its initial gains to finish the trading session on a mildly higher note, with the barometer holding 10,500-mark. The index made a positive start, as traders remained optimistic with a private report that the government has generated higher-than-expected revenues from customs duties, which may help it rein in the fiscal deficit within its FY19 target of 3.3% of gross domestic product (GDP). Some encouragement came with rating agency CRISIL’s report that the rupee may appreciate to 71 against the dollar by March 2019 on positives like the dip in crude prices and the $75-billion currency swap with Bank of Japan. Traders also took note of Textiles Minister Smriti Irani’s statement that the Indian economy would become bigger and stronger than the British economy in the next couple of years and added that the country is moving towards economic empowerment. However, market pared most of the gains in last leg of trade, as market participants were concerned with Arun Jaitley’s statemnet that excessive competition at times can result in stress in a particular sector, pointing out that these are challenges of the growing economy. He also said that with the growing economy, the role of each regulator will expand. 

All the sectoral indices ended in red on the NSE except IT, Media and Realty. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Infibeam Avenues, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and DCB Bank. On the other hand, the top losers were Balkrishna Industries, PC Jeweller and Cipla. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 10,900-11,200 calls and 9,900 -10,200 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 5.02% and reached 18.50. The 50-share Nifty was up by 6.00 points or 0.06 % to settle at 10,530.00.

Nifty November 2018 futures closed at 10554.85 on Tuesday, at a premium of 24.85 points over spot closing of 10530.00, while Nifty December 2018 futures ended at 10601.10, at a premium of 71.10 points over spot closing. Nifty November futures saw a contraction of 0.15 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 23.61 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on November 29, 2018.

From the most active contracts, Reliance Industries November 2018 futures traded at a premium of 3.30 points at 1105.05 compared with spot closing of 1101.75. The numbers of contracts traded were 35,562.

State Bank of India November 2018 futures traded at a premium of 1.85 points at 287.10 compared with spot closing of 285.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 33,783.

Tata Motors November 2018 futures traded at a premium of 0.80 points at 193.05 compared with spot closing of 192.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 27,551.

HDFC Bank November 2018 futures traded at a premium of 6.80 points at 1955.10 compared with spot closing of 1948.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,752.

Axis Bank November 2018 futures traded at a discount of 0.20 points at 607.90 compared with spot closing of 608.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,575.

Among Nifty calls, 11000 SP from the November month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.18 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10,000 SP from the November month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.03 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 11,000 SP (2.76mn) and that for Puts was at 10,000 SP (4.99mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10,589.68 ---- Pivot Point 10,540.57 --- Support --- 10,480.88.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.46 for November month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Adani Power (2.34), UPL (1.42), PC Jeweller (1.33), DLF (1.22) and Mahindra & Mahindra (1.21).

Among most active underlying, State Bank of India witnessed a contraction of 9.25 million units of Open Interest in the November month futures contract, followed by Reliance Industries witnessing a contraction of 1.17 million units of Open Interest in the November month contract, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 0.07 million units of Open Interest in the November month contract, Axis Bank witnessed a contraction of 2.73 million units of Open Interest in the November month contract and HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 0.59 million units of Open Interest in the November month future contract.