Nifty ends day with marginal loss ahead of monthly F&O expiry date

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended the volatile trade with marginal losses ahead of monthly F&O expiry. Market made negative start, as traders remained cautious after India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its ‘Research and Ratings Compendium’ stated that the ratio of Upgrades/Downgrades is likely to moderate, amid higher inflation, slowing exports and an improving but still weak domestic demand. The agency expects the economic growth to slow down to 4.0% - 4.5% in 2HFY23 from 9.7% in 1HFY23. Market traded with volatility throughout the day as sentiments remain dampened with RBI’s report 'Trends and Progress of Banking in India' where it said that retail loans, long considered a panacea for the banking system, may become a systemic risk.

Market witnessed some recovery and gained green terrain for couple of times during the trade as traders went for value buying. But recovery proved short-lived and markets ended slightly in red. Sentiments remain dampened with latest data on public debt showing that the total liabilities of the government increased to Rs 147.19 lakh crore at September-end from Rs 145.72 lakh crore at the end of June this fiscal year. In percentage terms, it reflects a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1 per cent in second quarter of 2022-23.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in red except Auto, FMCG, Media, Realty, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals, Atul and TVS Motor Company. On the other hand, the top losers were Honeywell Automation India, L&T Technology Services and Amara Raja Batteries. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 18100 -18300 calls and 17900 -18100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 0.68% and reached 15.40. The 50 share Nifty down by 9.80 points or 0.054% to settle at 18,122.50.

Nifty December 2022 futures closed at 18113.65 (LTP) on Wednesday, at a discount of 8.85 points over spot closing of 18122.50, while Nifty January 2023 futures ended at 18228.00 (LTP), at a premium of 105.50 points over spot closing. Nifty December futures saw an addition of 9,836 units, taking the total outstanding open interest (Contracts) to 1,36,712 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on December 29, 2022. (Provisional) 

From the most active contracts, Infosys December 2022 futures traded at a discount of 1.50 points at 1508.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1510.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 34,882. (Provisional) 

Reliance Industries December 2022 futures traded at a discount of 3.70 points at 2538.30 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2542.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,311. (Provisional) 

ICICI Bank December 2022 futures traded at a discount of 2.00 points at 896.55 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 898.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 18,335. (Provisional) 

Adani Enterprises December 2022 futures traded at a premium of 1.05 points at 3799.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3797.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,847. (Provisional) 

Kotak Mahindra Bank December 2022 futures traded at a premium of 1.00 points at 1819.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1818.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,566. (Provisional)    

Among, Nifty calls, 18200 SP from the December month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 47,307 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 18100 SP from the December month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 75,427 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18200 SP (2,21,473 units) and that for Puts was at 18000 SP (2,53,782 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 18198.55 -- Pivot Point 18083.00 -- Support -- 18016.75.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.07) for December month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on RBL Bank (1.11), Jindal Steel & Power (1.10), JSW Steel (1.02), Apollo Tyres (0.96), and Interglobe Aviation (0.91).

Among most active underlying, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 2,616 units of Open Interest in the December month futures and Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 3,242 units of Open Interest in the December month futures. (Provisional)