Nifty closes with minor losses; settles below 17,750

The fifty stock index -- Nifty -- ended in negative terrain with minor losses, as traders remained on sidelines ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision due Wednesday. Market made a slightly positive start, as traders took encouragement with NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer’s statement that India's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has attracted investment worth over Rs 45,000 crore and has also created three lakh jobs. The Indian government launched the PLI scheme in 2020.

However, soon market entered into negative terrain and extended its losses in afternoon session to touch day’s low point, as investors remained downbeat with a private report stating that India's weightage in MSCI's emerging-market benchmark has dropped after the brutal sell-off in Adani Group's stocks. India has been replaced in the second spot by Taiwan after a rally in the latter's market.

In last hours of trading, market made some recovery, but unable to hold and ended in negative terrain. Traders took a note of Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameswar Teli’s statement that employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the Government. Accordingly, the Government of India has taken various steps for generating employment in the country.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in red except Realty, Bank, Private Bank and Financial Services. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Adani Enterprises, Intellect Design Arena and Navin Fluorine International. On the other hand, the top losers were Tata Steel, Aarti Industries and Hindalco Industries. 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 decreased by 3.82% and reached 14.13. The 50 share Nifty down by 43.10 points or 0.24% to settle at 17,721.50.

Nifty February 2023 futures closed at 17780.75 (LTP) on Tuesday, at a premium of 59.25 points over spot closing of 17721.50, while Nifty March 2023 futures ended at 17883.45 (LTP), at a premium of 161.95 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 8,788 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,15,803 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 10.00 points at 1823.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1813.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 74,745. (Provisional)

Ambuja Cements February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 2.55 points at 389.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 387.15. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,545. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 13.50 points at 2317.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2304.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,495. (Provisional)

Tata Steel February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 0.45 points at 111.65 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 111.20. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,498. (Provisional)

State Bank of India February 2023 futures traded at a premium of 2.30 points at 548.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 546.20. The numbers of contracts traded were 21,262. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 17800 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 2,145 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17500 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 5,808 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (70,396 units) and that for Puts was at 17500 SP (74,734 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17804.25 -- Pivot Point 17728.40 -- Support -- 17645.65.

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 (2.47), ACC (1.57), Zydus Lifesciences (1.43), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (1.41) and Voltas (1.28).

Among most active underlying, Adani Enterprises witnessed a contraction of 785 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, Ambuja Cements witnessed an addition of 4,435 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 1,360 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 6,740 units of Open Interest in the February month futures and HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 689 units of Open Interest in the February month futures. (Provisional)