Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- closed in negative terrain on Wednesday ahead of weekly F&O expiry tomorrow. Index made a powerful start, as investors gained confidence after positive US inflation data. Some support also came as Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government is taking steps to make India a $5 trillion economy earlier than the International Monetary Fund’s forecast year of 2026-27. Index continued to trade on higher note, as traders took some support with a Anurag Jain, the secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), stating that inclusion and equity are important for India to transform into a developed nation, with technology aiding this growth.
However, in late afternoon session, index erased all of its gains and ended near day’s low point, amid a private report stating that venture capital (VC) funding for Indian startups has taken a sharp cut. It dropped to $25.7 billion in 2022 from $35.8 billion in 2021 as the global economy experienced turbulence. Adding more concerns, another private report stated that hiring intentions will remain marginally lower during the second quarter (April-June) this year as employers continue to have difficulty in finding people with the right skills.
Most of the sectorial indices in red except Metal, Consumer Durables, Healthcare Index and Pharma. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Adani Enterprises, GMR Airports Infrastructure and Indian Energy Exchange. On the other hand, the top losers were Berger Paints India, Aurobindo Pharma and Jindal Steel and Power. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18100 calls and 16400 -16600 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 0.47% and reached 16.30. The 50 share Nifty down by 71.15 points or 0.42% to settle at 16,972.15.
Nifty March 2023 futures closed at 17027.55 (LTP) on Wednesday, at a premium of 55.40 points over spot closing of 16972.15, while Nifty April 2023 futures ended at 17128.00 (LTP), at a premium of 155.85 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 10,362 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,57,453 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 9.45 points at 1847.45 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1838.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 43,795. (Provisional)
Reliance Industries March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 10.25 points at 2247.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2237.45. The numbers of contracts traded were 37,619. (Provisional)
HDFC Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 7.95 points at 1550.90 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1542.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 27,256. (Provisional)
ICICI Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 3.60 points at 827.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 823.40. The numbers of contracts traded were 21,145. (Provisional)
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 0.55 points at 682.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 681.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 17,465. (Provisional)
Among, Nifty calls, 17200 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 3,336 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 16500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 1,085 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (67,902 units) and that for Puts was at 16500 SP (55,679 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17142.70 -- Pivot Point 17040.80 -- Support -- 16870.25.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.07) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (0.94), Jindal Steel and Power (0.84), Bata India (0.80) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (0.80) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (0.79).
Among most active underlying, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 3,246 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 4,125 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and Adani Enterprises witnessed an addition of 393 units of Open Interest in the March month futures.
