S&P CNX -- Nifty -- continued its free fall for the fifth consecutive session and ended the day’s trade below its crucial 13,850 levels amid weak global cues. Market made a gap down opening, as India continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 14th among worst-hit nations by active covid-19 cases. Market remained in red zone even after Gita Gopinath, the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that India has entered 2021 with better prospects than what was expected last year and has been able to restore activity faster than many economies. In afternoon session, market extended its losses to trade, as traders failed to take support with report India's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) saw a significant jump in November 2020. FDI data released by the Commerce Ministry shows that total FDI in the month of November 2020 grew by a whopping 81 per cent to $10.15 billion against $5.6 billion in November 2019. FDI equity has also jumped to $8.5 billion as against $2.8 billion in November 2019, registering a growth of 70 per cent.
Most of the sectoral indices ended in red except Bank and Private Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Axis Bank, Havells and Federal Bank. On the other hand, the top losers were Bank of Baroda, United Spirits and Mahindra & Mahindra Fin. Services. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 14100 - 15,500 calls and 12,900 - 13,900 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility decreased by 0.42% and reached 24.29. The 50 share Nifty down by 149.95 points or 1.07% to settle at 13,817.55.
Nifty February 2021 futures closed at 13840.00 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 22.45 points over spot closing of 13817.55, while Nifty March 2021 futures ended at 13865.00 (LTP), at a premium of 47.45 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 45,745 units, taking the total open interest (OI) to 1,35,670 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 25, 2021 (Provisional).
From the most active contracts, Reliance Industries February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 6.05 points at 1882.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1876.35. The numbers of contracts traded were 82,772 (Provisional).
Axis Bank February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 2.50 points at 669.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 667.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 55,539 (Provisional).
HDFC Bank February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 2.80 points at 1374.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1372.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 33,083 (Provisional).
ICICI Bank February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 2.15 points at 530.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 528.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,672 (Provisional).
Maruti Suzuki India February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 30.00 points at 7630.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 7600.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 29,534 (Provisional).
Among, Nifty calls, 14000 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 7,318 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 13500 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 3,219 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 14500 SP (19,815 units) and that for Puts was at 13000 SP (26,812 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 13,906.12 -- Pivot Point 13,809.68 -- Support -- 13,721.12.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.43) for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Aarti Industries (2.49), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (2.25), Vedanta (1.77), Bata India (1.61) and Max Financial Services (1.54).
Among most active underlying, Axis Bank witnessed an addition of 17,269 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract followed by Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 31,916 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, Tata Motors witnessed an addition of 3,797 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 12,091 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract and HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 10,824 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract (Provisional).
