Key equity benchmark -- Nifty -- continued downtrend momentum on Thursday, as it fell for the fifth straight session amid sustained foreign fund outflows and mixed global cues. Index made a cautions start as traders remain concerned with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that both bank credit as well as deposits growth marginally declined on a fortnightly basis, clipping at 14.5 percent at Rs 94.29 lakh crore deposits grew at a tepid 9.63 percent to Rs 121.22 lakh crore for the fortnight ending February 1. Markets remained under pressure with a report that volatile crude oil prices, a strong dollar and rising US bond yields has resulted in foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turning big sellers in the Indian market.
Barometer pared some of its losses in the afternoon trade, as investors took some support with wholesale price index (WPI) inflation data. Wholesale prices in India eased to 2.76 percent in January, as compared to 3.80 percent in December, due to cheaper food and fuel prices. Wholesale inflation, measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), grew 3.02 percent in January 2018. However, market once again moved towards south and ended in red amid rising global crude prices and a subdued trend at other Asian bourses. Traders failed to take solace with an aim to improve competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the government has approved a three-year extension of the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Up-gradation (CLCS-TUS) Scheme for MSMEs with total outlay of Rs 2,900 crore.
All sectoral indices ended in green on NSE except IT, Financial service and Metal. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Yes Bank, CG Power and Industrial Solutions and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation. On the other hand, the top losers were NBCC (India), Kaveri Seed Company and Oracle Financial Services Software. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 10,800-11,200 calls and 10,500 -10,900 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility increased by 0.27% and reached 15.77. The 50-share Nifty was down by 47.60 points 0.44% to settle at 10,746.05.
Nifty February 2019 futures closed at 10779.80 on Thursday, at a premium of 33.75 points over spot closing of 10746.05, while Nifty March 2019 futures ended at 10821.05, at a premium of 75.00 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw a contraction of 1.10 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.13 mn units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 28, 2019.
From the most active contracts, Yes Bank February 2019 futures traded at a discount of 0.75 points at 221.85 compared with spot closing of 222.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 138,714.
Indiabulls Housing Finance February 2019 futures traded at a premium of 0.50 points at 660.55 compared with spot closing of 660.05. The numbers of contracts traded were 29,782.
Larsen & Toubro February 2019 futures traded at a premium of 1.65 points at 1229.65 compared with spot closing of 1228.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,046.
Reliance Industries February 2019 futures traded at a premium of 2.35 points at 1231.45 compared with spot closing of 1229.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,376.
State Bank of India February 2019 futures traded at a premium of 0.75 points at 268.25 compared with spot closing of 267.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,293.
Among Nifty calls, 10,800 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.82 million open interests. Among Nifty puts, 10,700 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.35 million open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 11,000 SP (4.27mn) and that for Puts was at 10,700 SP (3.09mn). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 10,786.25 ---- Pivot Point 10,752.50 --- Support --- 10,712.30.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at 1.11 for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Shree Cements (2.50), TCS (1.92), Cipla (1.74), GMR Infrastructure (1.56) and Nestle India (1.37).
Among most active underlying, Yes Bank witnessed a contraction of 13.20 million units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, followed by Reliance Industries witnessing a contraction of 0.28 million units of Open Interest in the February month contract, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 0.94 million units of Open Interest in the February month contract, Axis Bank witnessed a contraction of 1.12 million units of Open Interest in the February month contract and ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 0.55 million units of Open Interest in the February month future contract.
