After making cautious start, Nifty finished Monday’s session above neutral line amid positive global cues. Besides, gains in banking, auto and metal shares also pushed the market higher. Market made cautious start, as India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves dipped by $2.59 billion in the week ended March 18, recording a sharp drop for the second consecutive week as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) heavily sold dollars to prevent slide in the value of rupee. Further, market slipped into red zone after the head of the International Monetary Fund is warning that the global economic strain caused by Russia's war in Ukraine could stoke civil unrest in the Middle East and beyond. Besides, a private report stated that Indian consumers are showing cautious optimism and balancing non-discretionary spending as they are saving more for the future.
However, in late afternoon session, index wiped out all its losses to trade higher after India and the UAE have agreed to set up a technical council on Investment, Trade Promotion and Facilitation, as part of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between the two countries last month. The objectives of the council are to promote and enhance investment and trade cooperation and facilitation between the parties; monitor investment and trade relations, identify opportunities for expanding investment and trade, and to identify issues relevant to investment and trade that may be appropriate for further discussion. Finally, Nifty finished the session above 17200 mark.
Most of the sectoral indices ended in green except IT, Pharma and Consumer Durables. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertlzrs&Chms, Bharti Airtel and Atul. On the other hand, the top losers were Escorts, Container Corporation of India and Max Financial Services. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18150 calls and 16300 -16600 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 3.49% and reached 22.61. The 50 share Nifty down by 69.00 points or 0.40% to settle at 17,222.00.
Nifty March 2022 futures closed at 17276.35 (LTP) on Monday, at a premium of 54.35 points over spot closing of 17222.00, while Nifty April 2022 futures ended at 17316.00 (LTP), at a premium of 94.00 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 13,394 units, taking the total open interest (contracts) to 2,10,580 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 31, 2022 (Provisional).
From the most active contracts, Reliance Industries March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 6.00 points at 2623.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2617.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 36,588 (Provisional).
ICICI Bank March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 2.55 points at 713.05 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 710.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 35,204 (Provisional).
HDFC Bank March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 4.00 points at 1440.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1436.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,974 (Provisional).
Bharti Airtel March 2022 futures traded at a discount of 0.50 points at 736.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 737.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,364 (Provisional).
Infosys March 2022 futures traded at a premium of 4.80 points at 1875.45 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1870.65. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,168 (Provisional).
Among, Nifty calls, 17300 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 28,623 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 17,919 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (2,11,175 units) and that for Puts was at 16500 SP (1,25,019 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17,303.43 -- Pivot Point 17,153.67 -- Support --17,072.23.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.81) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Jindal Steel & Power (1.16), JSW Steel (1.10), Aurobindo Pharma (1.05), Reliance Industries (1.03) and Adani Enterprises (0.97).
Among most active underlying, ICICI Bank witnessed a contraction of 5,110 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 353 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 8,364 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract, Bharti Airtel witnessed an addition of 1,906 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract and Adani Enterprises witnessed an addition of 748 units of Open Interest in the March month futures contract (Provisional).
