Indian benchmark -- Nifty continued southward journey on last trading day of week and ended the session with the cut of one and half percent. Market started off with marginal losses, as India recorded 13,701 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The total number of active cases in the country has fallen to 10,625,420, while the caseload tally stands at 10,625,420. Further, market added more losses even after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued to remain a net buyer of the US currency in November after it bought $10.261 billion from the spot market. During the reporting month, the central bank purchased $14.289 billion and sold $4.028 billion. Traders failed to took solace with Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest assessment of the economy, indicating that the Indian economy has further recovered and estimates the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to turn positive in the third quarter of current financial year (Q3FY21). In late afternoon session, market touched its intraday low point despite India's hiring activities declined last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is a sudden increase in demand with about 53 per cent of companies saying they are planning to increase their headcounts in 2021. The pandemic adversely impacted economies across Asia-Pacific, including India, which had entered 2020 with robust hiring activities, according to professional recruitment services firm Michael Page India's 'Talent Trends 2021 Report'.
Most of the sectoral indices ended in red except Auto and IT. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Bajaj Auto, Apollo Tyre and Hero Motocorp. On the other hand, the top losers were Biocon,SAIL and Bandhan Bank. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 14100 - 15,500 calls and 12,900 - 13,500 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility increased by 1.09% and reached 22.42. The 50 share Nifty down by 218.45 points or 1.50% to settle at 14,371.90.
Nifty January 2021 futures closed at 14372.85 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 0.95 points over spot closing of 14371.90, while Nifty February 2021 futures ended at 14415.00 (LTP), at a premium of 43.10 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw a contraction of 1,415 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 1,60,468 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 28, 2021 (Provisional).
From the most active contracts, Reliance Industries January 2021 futures traded at a premium of 4.55 points at 2052.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2047.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 63,201 (Provisional).
Tata Motors January 2021 futures traded at a premium of 0.85 points at 291.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 290.85. The numbers of contracts traded were 50,857 (Provisional).
Bajaj Auto January 2021 futures traded at a discount of 9.30 points at 4109.95 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 4119.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 26,848 (Provisional).
Tata Steel January 2021 futures traded at a premium of 0.50 points at 647.35 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 646.85. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,915 (Provisional).
ICICI Bank January 2021 futures traded at a premium of 0.80 points at 532.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 532.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,165 (Provisional).
Among, Nifty calls, 14700 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 22,540 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 14200 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 5,701units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 15000 SP (69,724 units) and that for Puts was at 14000 SP (48,413 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 14,541.95 -- Pivot Point 14,449.85 -- Support -- 14,279.80.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.80) for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Vedanta (1.02), TCS (0.96), Bajaj Auto (0.94), UPL (0.89) and Tata Motors (0.86)
Among most active underlying, Tata Motors witnessed an addition of 508 units of Open Interest in the January month futures contract followed by Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 7,324 units of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, Bajaj Auto witnessed an addition of 2,552 units of Open Interest in the January month futures contract, Tata Steel witnessed an addition of 195 units of Open Interest in the January month futures contract and Bajaj Finance witnessed an addition of 360 units of Open Interest in the January month futures contract (Provisional).
