S&P CNX -- Nifty extended its northward journey on Thursday and finished the session with the gains of above half a percent. After making cautious start, index soon added gains, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance as long as necessary to support growth and keep inflation within the target. Besides, RBI retained its growth projection at 9.2 per cent and inflation at 5.3 per cent for the current financial year. Further, market maintained its upward rally with Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash’s statement that India has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows worth $339.55 billion in the last five years.
Traders overlooked the Reserve Bank of India pegged the economic growth rate for 2022-23 at 7.8 per cent, down from 9.2 per cent expected in 2021-22, in view of uncertainties on account of the pandemic and elevated global commodity prices. The Reserve Bank’s growth projection for next financial year is lower than 8-8.5 per cent projected by the Finance Ministry in the recent Economic Survey which was tabled in Parliament earlier in the month. Market continued to trade higher till the end and ended above its crucial 17600 level.
Most of the sectoral indices ended in green except PSU Bank and Auto. The top gainers from the F&O segment were JSPL, Firstsource Solutions and Aurobindo Pharma. On the other hand, the top losers were Godrej Consumer Products, Bank of Baroda and MGL. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18200 calls and 16300 -16700 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 4.55% and reached 17.71. The 50 share Nifty up by 142.05 points or 0.81% to settle at 17,605.85.
Nifty February 2022 futures closed at 17597.65 (LTP) on Thursday, at a discount of 8.20 points over spot closing of 17605.85, while Nifty March 2022 futures ended at 17661.00 (LTP), at a premium of 55.15 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 14,414 units, taking the total open interest (contracts) to 1,99,291 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 24, 2022 (Provisional).
From the most active contracts, Tata Steel February 2022 futures traded at a premium of 5.10 points at 1252.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1247.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 29,492 (Provisional).
Reliance Industries February 2022 futures traded at a premium of 4.65 points at 2381.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2376.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 22,948 (Provisional).
SAIL February 2022 futures traded at a premium of 0.45 points at 103.90 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 103.45. The numbers of contracts traded were 21,355 (Provisional).
Infosys February 2022 futures traded at a premium of 2.20 points at 1773.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1771.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 20,987 (Provisional).
HDFC Bank February 2022 futures traded at a premium of 1.40 points at 1525.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1523.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 18,764 (Provisional).
Among, Nifty calls, 18000 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 1,247 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17600 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 13,786 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (46,554 units) and that for Puts was at 16500 SP (68,374 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17,687.82 -- Pivot Point 17,557.48 -- Support -- 17,475.52.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.39) for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Vedanta (1.06), Indigo (0.96), Aurobindo Pharma (0.93), Escorts (0.93) and Havells India (0.92).
Among most active underlying, Tata Power witnessed a contraction of 322 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 916 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, Tata Steel witnessed an addition of 1,305 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 290 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract and Tata Motors witnessed a contraction of 1,103 units of Open Interest in the February month futures contract (provisional).
