S&P Nifty continued its southbound journey on last trading day of week as geopolitical tensions remained in focus as investors closely tracked news updates on the Russia-Ukraine war. Broader markets also weakened, as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices finishing the day down by 2.08% and 1.78% respectively. Market began day on somber note and extended its losses to touch intraday low point with a private report that India's trade and current account deficits are likely to widen, putting pressure on the rupee, as global oil prices surge and the domestic economy reopens from a third wave of the pandemic.
Further, in late afternoon trade, market recoup from losses but continued to trade below neutral line, as India’s service sector activity improved in the month of February, as COVID-19 cases declined and restrictions were lifted. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index surged to 51.8 in February from 51.5 in January. Further, the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- also improved to 53.5 in February from 53.0 in January. But, index once again added losses, as value of foreign portfolio investors' (FPI) holdings in domestic equities reached $654 billion in three months ended December 2021, a drop of nearly 2 per cent from the preceding quarter. Finally, Nifty finished the session with the cut of above one and half a percent.
All the sectoral indices ended in red. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Strides Pharma Science, Intellect Design Arena and Dr Reddy's Laboratories. On the other hand, the top losers were IRCTC, Vodafone Idea and MCX. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18200 calls and 15900 -16100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 0.70% and reached 27.96. The 50 share Nifty down by 252.70 points or 1.53% to settle at 16,245.35.
Nifty March 2022 futures closed at 16257.45 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 12.10 points over spot closing of 16245.35, while Nifty April 2022 futures ended at 16305.45 (LTP), at a premium of 60.10 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 19,559 units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 2,72,571 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 31, 2022 (Provisional).
From the most active contracts, Tata Steel March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 3.85 points at 1280.85 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1277.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 39,389 (Provisional).
Asian Paints March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 3.20 points at 2747.20 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2744.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,264 (Provisional).
Infosys March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 4.55 points at 1726.45 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1721.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,055 (Provisional).
ICICI Bank March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 1.95 points at 689.95 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 688.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 26,283 (Provisional).
HDFC Bank March 2022 futures traded at a discount of 2.90 points at 1362.05 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1364.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,873 (Provisional).
Among, Nifty calls, 16500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 3,683 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 16000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 3,615 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (45,118 units) and that for Puts was at 16000 SP (85,188 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 16,422.97 -- Pivot Point 16,278.38 -- Support -- 16,100.77.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.61) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on JK Cements (6.80), ABB (1.00), Berger Paints India (0.93), Eicher Motors (0.89) and REC (0.86).
Among most active underlying, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 3,498 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, Tata Steel witnessed a contraction of 437 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, Tata Motors witnessed an addition of 1,700 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 3,204 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract and Maruti Suzuki witnessed an addition of 4,028 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract (Provisional).
