After making a positive start, Nifty finished the Wednesday’s trading session below 17250 mark, weighed down by selling in auto and banking space along with losing index heavyweights such as HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Maruti Suzuki India. Besides, investors also kept an eye on rising crude oil prices. Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.55 per cent and small-cap 100 shares declined 0.21 per cent.
Market made a positive start, as a periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that unemployment rate for persons of age 15 years and above in urban areas dipped to 9.8 per cent in July-September 2021 from 13.2 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year. Market managed to maintain some gains in the first half of the trading session despite some volatility, as Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) retained the outlook for India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) at 5.5% in FY24.
However, index slipped into negative territory in the noon deals, as Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas released its monthly production report for February 2022 showed that crude oil production failed to meet target while also lower in terms of year-on-year (YoY) data for the period; while natural gas production was higher in YoY terms, but still lower than the monthly target. Some cautiousness also came after IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that new International Monetary Fund forecasts due in April will show that the war in Ukraine will slow global economic growth, but will not cause a global recession.
Most of the sectoral indices ended in red except IT, Media and Metal. The top gainers from the F&O segment were L&TFH, City Union Bank and Tata Communications. On the other hand, the top losers were Info Edge (India), J K Cement and Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18150 calls and 15900 -16150 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 2.81% and reached 24.75. The 50 share Nifty down by 69.85 points or 0.40% to settle at 17,245.65.
Nifty March 2022 futures closed at 17255.65 (LTP) on Wednesday, at a premium of 10.00 points over spot closing of 17245.65, while Nifty April 2022 futures ended at 17307.65 (LTP), at a premium of 62.00 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw a contraction of 9,052 units, taking the total open interest (contracts) to 2,16,895 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 4.95 points at 1333.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1328.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 47,263 (Provisional).
Reliance Industries March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 5.35 points at 2540.35 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2535.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,554 (Provisional).
Adani Ports March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 1.55 points at 735.35 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 733.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,974 (Provisional).
Kotak Mahindra Bank March 2022 futures traded at a discount of 0.95 points at 1759.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1760.75. The numbers of contracts traded were 22,171 (Provisional).
SAIL March 2022 futures traded at a discount of 2.20 points at 100.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 102.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 21,123 (Provisional).
Among, Nifty calls, 17500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 4,197 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 1,175 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (73,590 units) and that for Puts was at 16000 SP (1,01,006 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17,392.17 -- Pivot Point 17,295.88 -- Support -- 17,149.37.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.25) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Jindal Steel & Power (1.12), Adani Enterprises (0.99), Aurobindo Pharma (0.93), Jubilant FoodWorks (0.86) and Reliance Industries (0.85).
Among most active underlying, Tata Steel witnessed an addition of 1,508 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, Adani Ports witnessed an addition of 9,296 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 375 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 2,482 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract and Kotak Mahindra Bank witnessed an addition of 5,208 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract (Provisional).
