Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended in positive terrain on last trading day of the week, as traders went for fundamentally strong stocks. After making a good start, soon index slipped into red terrain and remained volatile for the most part of the session, as traders got anxious after a report by economic think tank GTRI said India's exports of products like coffee, leather hides and paperboard worth $1.3 billion annually to the European Union will get impacted due to the deforestation regulation adopted by the EU earlier this week. Traders also took a note of report that India and Britain are struggling to make progress in free trade talks due to differences on some key tariff lines and investment protection rules, making a deal unlikely during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term ending next year.
However, index staged recovery in the last hours of trade, as market participants got some support after S&P Global Ratings has affirmed India’s sovereign rating at ‘BBB-’ with a stable outlook and said that strengths lie in a fast-growing economy and strong external balance sheet. Index ended near day’s high point, as traders were positive with a report stating that the Commerce and Industry Ministry will hold a two-day Chintan Shivir to discuss ways to promote manufacturing trade, investments, startups, logistics and import substitution, among others.
Traders were seen piling up positions in IT, Realty and Auto, while selling was witnessed in Pharma, Healthcare Index and Consumer Durables. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Ramco Cements, Birlasoft and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. On the other hand, the top losers were Siemens, Bandhan Bank and Zydus Lifesciences. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 18400 -18600 calls and 18100 -18300 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
