Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- finished Thursday’s trading day on a lower note. After making a slightly positive start, soon index slipped into negative terrain, as traders got cautious with India Ratings in its report projecting just 4 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for India for the fourth quarter and said the final growth numbers for the full year (FY23) will be lower than the second advance estimate of 7 per cent. Sentiments remained cautions as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a second day of congressional testimony that policymakers hadn't yet made up their minds on the size of the interest-rate increase later this month.
In afternoon session, index extended its southward journey, as sentiments were downbeat with a private report stating that the growth in the loans to the industry has stagnated with the banking sector clocking an 8.7% growth in January. The moderation is on account of the slower pace of growth in MSME credit, which was the main driver of the growth in loans since April. At the end, index touched day’s lowest point and ended in deep red. Investors took a note of another private report stating that India faces a high risk of nighttime power cuts this summer and in coming years, as delays in adding new coal-fired and hydropower capacity could limit the country's ability to address surging electricity demand when solar energy is not available.
Most of the sectorial indices in red except Metal. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Manappuram Finance, SBI Cards and Payment Services and Shriram Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were Adani Enterprises, RBL Bank and Mahindra and Mahindra. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18100 calls and 16950 -17150 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 2.20% and reached 12.73. The 50 share Nifty down by 164.80 points or 0.93% to settle at 17,589.60.
Nifty March 2023 futures closed at 17638.20 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 48.60 points over spot closing of 17589.60, while Nifty April 2023 futures ended at 17744.00 (LTP), at a premium of 154.40 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 24,315 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,27,738 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 29, 2023. (Provisional)
From the most active contracts, Adani Enterprises March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 6.85 points at 1948.25 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1941.40. The numbers of contracts traded were 38,801. (Provisional)
Reliance Industries March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 11.00 points at 2371.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2360.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 36,221. (Provisional)
ICICI Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 4.00 points at 860.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 856.40. The numbers of contracts traded were 18,775. (Provisional)
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 4.30 points at 700.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 696.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 18,082. (Provisional)
HDFC Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 3.00 points at 1633.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1630.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,668. (Provisional)
Among, Nifty calls, 17700 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 13,073 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17600 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 321 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (64,979 units) and that for Puts was at 17000 SP (1,05,474 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17716.77 -- Pivot Point 17645.18 -- Support -- 17518.02.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.24) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Bank of Baroda (1.03), Balrampur Chini Mills (0.97), Canara Bank (0.96), Indusind Bank (0.95) and Bajaj Auto (0.90).
Among most active underlying, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 9,167 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Adani Enterprises witnessed an addition of 581 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 2,451 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional)
