Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- closed Monday’s trading session with half a percent cut. Market made a negative start, as market participants avoided taking any long positions ahead of a three-day policy meeting of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) monetary policy committee. Indian central bank is likely to raise rates by 25 basis points despite signs of softening retail inflation. Market extended its losses in late morning deals, as traders were concerned with report stating that foreign investors pulled out Rs 28,852 crore from Indian equities in January, making it the worst outflow in the last seven months, primarily due to attractiveness of the Chinese markets.
In afternoon session, market continued to trade lower and ended in negative terrain, as traders remained concerns with reports that the government hiked windfall profit tax levied on domestically produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and ATF, in line with firming international oil prices. The order dated February 3 said the levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been increased to Rs 5,050 per tonne from Rs 1,900 per tonne.
Traders were seen piling positions in Media, FMCG and Realty, while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and Financial Services stock. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Vodafone Idea, Indus Towers and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. On the other hand, the top losers were Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Jindal Steel & Power and Piramal Enterprises. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18100 calls and 17450 -17550 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 2.01% and reached 14.69. The 50 share Nifty down by 89.45 points or 0.50% to settle at 17,764.60.
Nifty February 2023 futures closed at 17795.00 (LTP) on Monday, at a premium of 30.40 points over spot closing of 17764.60, while Nifty March 2023 futures ended at 17895.00 (LTP), at a premium of 130.40 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 12,699 units, taking the total outstanding open interest (Contracts) to 2,13,243 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 23, 2023. (Provisional)
From the most active contracts, Adani Enterprises February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 0.85 points at 1555.15 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1554.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 74,187. (Provisional)
State Bank of India February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 0.90 points at 544.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 543.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,848. (Provisional)
ICICI Bank February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 0.20 points at 856.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 856.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 21,505. (Provisional)
ITC February 2023 futures traded at a discount of 4.85 points at 378.65 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 383.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 20,192. (Provisional)
Reliance Industries February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 9.90 points at 2322.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2312.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 19,674. (Provisional)
Among, Nifty calls, 17800 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 12,819 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17500 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 7,955 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (65,375 units) and that for Puts was at 17500 SP (71,129 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17826.08 -- Pivot Point 17762.21 -- Support -- 17700.73.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.18) for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Alkem Laboratories (2.14), ACC (1.53), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (1.37), Zydus Lifesciences (1.21) and J K Cement (1.16).
Among most active underlying, Adani Enterprises witnessed an addition of 2,295 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 1,072 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 2,345 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 4,279 units of Open Interest in the February month futures and Ambuja Cements witnessed an addition of 1,491 units of Open Interest in the February month futures. (Provisional)
