Nifty ends in red terrain for second consecutive day

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- continued its southward journey for second consecutive day. After a positive start, soon market entered into negative terrain as traders reacted negatively to the FOMC minutes which released overnight that suggests the Fed will remain aggressive in its policy to control inflation. Sentiments were down beat during the session ahead of weekly F&O expiry including the closely watched monthly US jobs report due on Friday.

In afternoon session, market extended its losses as some concerns came with rating agency ICRA’s report stating that the evolving global macroeconomic headwinds could moderate growth for Indian IT services industry over the medium term. It has cited that given the Indian IT services industry generates about 60-65 per cent of revenues from the US market and 20-25 per cent from the European market, it remains susceptible to macroeconomic uncertainties and adverse regulatory changes in these key operating markets. However, in the final hour of trade, market trimmed most of its losses but unable to entered into positive terrain.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in green except Bank, Financial Services, IT, Private Bank and Consumer Durables. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Apollo Tyres, ABB India and MRF. On the other hand, the top losers were Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 18900 -19100 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 decreased by 1.41% and reached 14.98. The 50 share Nifty down by 50.80 points or 0.28% to settle at 17,992.15.

Nifty January 2023 futures closed at 18070.05 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 77.90 points over spot closing of 17992.15, while Nifty February 2023 futures ended at 18135.00 (LTP), at a premium of 142.85 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw an addition of 9,470 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,32,778 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 25, 2023. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, Bajaj Finance January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 19.00 points at 6115.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 6096.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 54,808. (Provisional) 

ICICI Bank January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 4.70 points at 883.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 878.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,738. (Provisional) 

Reliance Industries January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 13.10 points at 2534.90 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2521.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,944. (Provisional) 

Infosys January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 8.40 points at 1484.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1475.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 20,409. (Provisional) 

HDFC Bank January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 7.15 points at 1607.10 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1599.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 18,626. (Provisional) 

Among, Nifty calls, 18200 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 7,795 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 18000 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 2,744 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 19000 SP (53,069 units) and that for Puts was at 18000 SP (67,720 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 18110.76 -- Pivot Point 18001.68 -- Support -- 17883.06.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.31) for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on IDFC (1.01), RBL Bank (0.98), IPCA Laboratories (0.98), Adani Enterprises  (0.91), and Interglobe Aviation (0.90).

Among most active underlying, Bajaj Finance witnessed an addition of 10,730 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 8,866 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 4,359 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 373 units of Open Interest in the January month futures and Axis Bank witnessed an addition of 751 units of Open Interest in the January month futures. (Provisional)