Nifty ends in negative terrain on Friday

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- finished the Friday’s trading day on negative note. Traders were concerned ahead of first advance estimates of economic growth for 2022-23 to be released later in the day by National Statistical Office. The first advance estimates of national income for 2022-23 is significant because the data is used for preparing the Budget of the central government for next financial year of 2023-24. After making cautious start, market soon turned volatile and traded below the neutral line as traders were concerned with a private report stating that India's economy is expected to grow 5.5% in the next financial year, a notch below the expected potential rate of 6%, as growth momentum in the country was slowing gradually.

In afternoon session, market magnified its losses and touched its intraday low point as sentiments remained dismal with private report stating that India is set to post a balance of payment (BoP) deficit for the second straight year in the next fiscal, which would be the first such instance in two decades. The report stated that it expects the country to record a BoP deficit of $24 billion this fiscal year and $5.5 billion in the next, against a surplus of $47.5 billion last year. Some recovery in last leg of the trade helped Nifty to trim some of its losses but it was not enough to bring the index back into green.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in red except FMCG and Consumer Durables. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals, Havells India and Astral. On the other hand, the top losers were Aditya Birla Capital, Dabur India and LIC Housing Finance. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 18900 -19100 calls and 16900 -17100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 0.28% and reached 15.03. The 50 share Nifty down by 132.70 points or 0.74% to settle at 17,859.45.

Nifty January 2023 futures closed at 17949.05 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 89.60 points over spot closing of 17859.45, while Nifty February 2023 futures ended at 18015.00 (LTP), at a premium of 155.55 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw an addition of 26,373 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 12,49,525 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 25, 2023. (Provisional)
 
From the most active contracts, ICICI Bank January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 4.70 points at 875.20 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 870.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,970. (Provisional) 

Bajaj Finance January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 31.50 points at 6015.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 5984.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,502. (Provisional) 

Reliance Industries January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 15.00 points at 2552.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2537.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,400. (Provisional) 

Tata Consultancy Services January 2023 futures traded at a discount of 1.50 points at 3212.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3213.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,646. (Provisional) 

Kotak Mahindra Bank January 2023 futures traded at a premium of 5.10 points at 1794.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1788.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,385. (Provisional)     

Among, Nifty calls, 18000 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 9,376 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17500 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 1,225 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 19000 SP (52,109 units) and that for Puts was at 17000 SP (63,667 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 18006.05 -- Pivot Point 17900.80 -- Support -- 17754.20.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.22) for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on IDFC (0.93), RBL Bank (0.92), Adani Enterprises (0.86), IPCA Laboratories (0.85) and Jindal Steel & Power (0.83).

Among most active underlying, Bajaj Finance witnessed an addition of 3,041 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 6,545 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 837 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, AXIS Bank witnessed an addition of 1,458 units of Open Interest in the January month futures and Kotak Mahindra Bank witnessed an addition of 1,691 units of Open Interest in the January month futures. (Provisional)