S&P CNX -- Nifty -- resumed its northward journey on Thursday and ended the day’s trade above 15150 mark. Market made a negative start with Fitch Ratings’ statement that India's high fiscal deficit would pose a challenge in lowering the debt to GDP ratio, which is expected to rise above 90 percent in the next five years. It said the country entered the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic with little fiscal headroom from a rating perspective. Its general government debt/GDP ratio stood at 72 percent in 2019, against a median of 42 percent for 'BBB' rated peers. However, soon market entered into green zone, as DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey stated that the new PSE policy announced by the government has opened a host of opportunities for the private players who now partake in India's growth story by buying the brownfield assets of public sector enterprises at an attractive valuation. He said privatisation, as a means of improving efficiency and hence achieving higher productivity and improved allocation of resources, has been one of the guiding principles of the Budget.
Index maintained its gains till the end of the session, as Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC India) has said that India’s engineering exports have increased by 18.69 percent in January 2021 and demand for such products in the international markets is expected to be steady in the remaining two months of the current fiscal. Finally, nifty snapped two session losing streak on Thursday.
Traders were seen piling up positions in FMGC, IT and Metal stocks, while selling was witnessed in Media, Realty and PSU Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Vodafone Idea, Info Edge and Hindalco Industries. On the other hand, the top losers were Aurobindo Pharma, Apollo Tyre and MRF. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 14100 - 16200 calls and 13,700 - 14,500 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility decreased by 3.78% and reached 23.05. The 50 share Nifty up by 66.80 points or 0.44% to settle at 15,173.30.
Nifty February 2021 futures closed at 15195.20 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 21.90 points over spot closing of 15173.30, while Nifty March 2021 futures ended at 15235.50 (LTP), at a premium of 62.20 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 3,350 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 1,46,310 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 5.70 points at 2067.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2061.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 98,786 (Provisional).
SBIN February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 0.80 points at 391.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 390.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,706 (Provisional).
ITC February 2021 futures traded at a discount of 2.20 points at 224.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 226.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,309 (Provisional).MRF February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 178.80 points at 90178.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 89999.20. The numbers of contracts traded were 16,722 (Provisional).
Bharti Airtel February 2021 futures traded at a premium of 1.15 points at 595.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 594.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 16,605 (Provisional).
Among, Nifty calls, 15200 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 31 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 15000 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 2,808 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 16000 SP (26,301units) and that for Puts was at 14000 SP (40,546 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 15,219.40 -- Pivot Point 15,142.40 -- Support -- 15,096.30.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.52) for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on SBIN (1.40), Axis Bank (1.27), Vedanta (1.11), ICICI Bank (1.09) and Shriram Transport Finance Company (1.05).
Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 4,744 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract followed by SBIN witnessed an addition of 1,337 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, Hindalco Industries witnessed an addition of 2,173 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, Bharti Airtel witnessed a contraction of 187 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract and Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 346 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract (Provisional).
