Market witnesses pull-back; Nifty shuts near 5,100 mark

Post witnessing sell-off in previous session, S&P CNX Nifty exhibited a smart pull back in Friday’s trade ending with a gain of over a percentage point buoyed by strong global cues. On the global front, Asian shares ended higher on Friday after reassurance from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that ECB is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. However, European counters turned negative after a positive opening. Back home, private lender ICICI Bank supported the sentiments after reporting better-than-estimated Q1 numbers.

Market kick started the session with a gap-up opening as sentiments across the globe remained ebullient led by ECB President Mario Draghi’s comments on Euro-zone. Moreover, couple of positive economic data out of the US also aided the optimism across global markets. Market continued its jubilant run till early noon session and touched its intraday high near its crucial 5,150 mark as sentiments were supported by metal space, which remained the top gainer after copper prices edged higher in the international market on July 27, 2012. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at $7,502 a tonne, up 0.43% and adding to small gains seen in the prior session. Meanwhile, retail stocks like, Pantaloon Retail, Shoppers Stop and Trent all edged higher after Trade Minister Anand Sharma said that the government is committed to opening its retail sector to foreign investment and will not reverse its stance. Afterwards, market lost some of its ground and dipped below its crucial 5,100 mark triggered by sharp reversal in the European indices in intraday trade, after a positive opening. Moreover, the sentiments also remained subdued after Moody’s Investors Service lowered its rating outlook on 17 German banking groups to ‘negative’ following outlook change on German sovereign and sub-sovereigns. Even-though, Nifty snapped the day’s trade with a gain of over a percent supported by private banks, as ICICI Bank reported better than expected Q1 numbers. The bank has registered a rise of 36.24% in its net profit at Rs 1815.05 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 1332.20 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

Meanwhile, most of the sectoral indices on the NSE were settled in the green, CNX Metal remained the major gainer, up 2.12% followed by CNX FMCG up 1.34% and CNX IT up by 1.32% while CNX PSU declined 4% in the trade. The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility, declined 0.43% and reached 16.44.

The India VIX witnessed an addition of 0.43% at 16.44 as compared to its previous close of at 16.37 on Thursday.

The 50-share S&P CNX Nifty gain 56.85 points or 1.13% to settle at 5,099.85.

Nifty August 2012 futures closed at 5,123.55 at a premium of 23.70 points over spot closing of 5,099.85, while Nifty September 2012 futures were at 5149.50 at a premium of 49.65 points over spot closing. The near month August 2012 derivatives contract will expire on Thursday i.e. August 30, 2012. Nifty August futures saw addition of 0.56 million (mn) units taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.10 mn units.

From the most active contract, Tata Motors August 2012 futures were at a premium of 1.15 point at 214.00 compared with spot closing of 212.85. The number of contracts traded was 16,969.

HDFC Bank August 2012 futures were at a premium of 2.80 point at 589.80 compared with spot closing of 587.00. The number of contracts traded was 11,114.

Tata Steel August 2012 futures were at a premium of 1.20 point at 402.10 compared with spot closing of 400.90. The number of contracts traded was 21,387.

ICICI Bank August 2012 futures were at a premium of 3.85 points at 934.30 compared with spot closing of 930.45. The number of contracts traded was 45,910.

SBI August 2012 futures were at a discount of 1.60 point at 1944.45 compared with spot closing of 1946.05. The number of contracts traded was 66,164.   

Among Nifty calls, 5500 SP from the August month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1.24 million open interest.

Among Nifty puts, 5000 SP from the August month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 8.18 million open interest.

The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 5500 SP (4.92mn) and that for Puts was at 5000 SP (0.97 mn).

The respective Support and Resistance levels are: Resistance 5140.7 -- Pivot Point 5109.1--Support 5068.25.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) OI wise stood at 1.25 for July-month contract.

The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were WEL Corp 10.00, ON Mobile 8.50, Andhra Bank 2.00, Siemens 1.92and HCL Tech 1.44.

Among the most active underlying, IFCI witnessed an addition of 1.37 million of Open Interest in the August month futures contract followed by RCOM which witnessed an addition of 1.00 million of Open Interest in the near month contract. Meanwhile, Jaiprakash Associates witnessed contraction of 0.26 million in the August month futures. Also, Tata Motors witnessed contraction of 2.66 million in Open Interest in the August month contract. Finally, BHEL witnessed an addition of 0.11 million of Open Interest in the near month futures contract.