Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- finished Monday’s trading session on a slightly higher note. After making a cautious start, soon index traded in a positive terrain, as sentiments remained positive with the Reserve Bank stating that India’s forex kitty rose by $12.798 billion to $572.801 billion in the week ended March 17. In the previous reporting week, the reserves had dropped by $2.39 billion to a three-month low of $560.003 billion. Some support also came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will emerge as a ‘developed’ nation by 2047 with efforts of every single individual. He said the dream will turn into a reality with the hard work of every single individual of the country and the government is encouraging collective efforts.
In afternoon session, index extended its gains and traded near day’s high point, as investors got some relief after a S&P Global Ratings kept its forecast for India's economic growth unchanged at 6 per cent in the fiscal year starting April 1, before rising to 6.9 per cent in the following year. In the quarterly economic update for Asia-Pacific, S&P saw inflation rate easing to 5 per cent in 2023-24 fiscal, from 6.8 per cent in the current financial year. However, in last hour of the trade, index trimmed most of its gains but closed in positive terrain.
Traders were seen piling positions in Healthcare Index, Pharma, and FMCG, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Media and Auto. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Biocon, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Lupin. On the other hand, the top losers were Indian Energy Exchange, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and Tata Power Company. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18100 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 1.34% and reached 15.45. The 50 share Nifty up by 40.65 points or 0.24% to settle at 16,985.70.
Nifty March 2023 futures closed at 17024.55 (LTP) on Monday, at a premium of 38.85 points over spot closing of 16985.70, while Nifty April 2023 futures ended at 17115.15 (LTP), at a premium of 129.45 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw a contraction of 1,490 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,21,884 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 29, 2023. (Provisional)
From the most active contracts, Reliance Industries March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 2.20 points at 2241.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2238.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 63,342. (Provisional)
HDFC Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 5.35 points at 1566.05 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1560.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 51,271. (Provisional)
ICICI Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 1.60 points at 848.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 846.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 43,899. (Provisional)
Kotak Mahindra Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 5.00 points at 1705.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1700.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 37,110. (Provisional)
Infosys March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 6.10 points at 1394.30 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1388.20. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,901. (Provisional)
Among, Nifty calls, 17100 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 15,656 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 1,26,862 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (2,61,002 units) and that for Puts was at 17000 SP (2,60,719 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17078.28 -- Pivot Point 16998.41 -- Support -- 16905.83.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.76) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Multi Commodity Exchange of India (1.20), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (1.12), Titan Company (1.07), UltraTech Cement (1.06) and Aurobindo Pharma (1.02).
Among most active underlying, HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 5,917 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 2,734 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 6,767 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Kotak Mahindra Bank witnessed a contraction of 3,695 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and Housing Development Finance Corporation witnessed an addition of 6,718 units of Open Interest in the March month futures.
