Nifty ends on flat note; IT, pharma and energy moves up

CNX Nifty pared intraday losses and closed flat on Tuesday ahead of April derivatives series expiry as buying activity picked up pace in defensive sectors like pharma and IT. On global front, Asian equity indices shut shop in the red due to disappointing Flash Chinese Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data. Meanwhile, European counters traded firmly in the early trade on Tuesday.

Back home, Indian equity benchmark made a negative start amid weak Asian cues. In the first half, marker traded in negative territory as investor sentiments were turned down after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs dropped the proposal to pool prices of imported and domestic coal to make the fuel affordable to new power plants. The report that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country declined by 19% at $1.79 billion in February, too dampened the sentiments. However, the market losses remained capped as some support came in from energy stocks after the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) cleared various infrastructure projects in the power and the oil and gas sectors, entailing investments worth around Rs 58,000 crore. Market edged up in late-noon deals on the back of buying in defensive stocks and taking cues from European counterparts. Sentiment also got a boost after C. Rangarajan, the top economic adviser stating that India’s worst economic slowdown in a decade has bottomed out and growth is expected to pick up to 6.4% in the current fiscal year. Buying was witnessed in Pharma, IT, auto and energy stocks. Finally, Nifty ended the session on a flat note. 

Meanwhile, sectoral indices on the NSE made a mix closing. CNX PSU Bank down 1.45%, CNX Media down 1.34%, CNX Infra down 0.67%, CNX Realty down 0.52% and CNX PSE down 0.15% remained the top losers in the trade. While, CNX IT up by 0.63%, CNX Pharma up by 0.61%, CNX Energy up by 0.50% and CNX Auto up by 0.02% remained the gainers in the trade. The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility, down by 7.09% and reached 15.07.

The India VIX witnessed contraction of 7.09% at 15.07 as compared to its previous close of at 16.22 on Monday.

The 50-share CNX Nifty gained 2.50 points or 0.04% to settle at 5,836.90.

Nifty April 2013 futures closed at 5843.00 on Tuesday at a premium of 6.10 points over spot closing of 5836.90, while Nifty May 2013 futures ended at 5857.90, at a premium of 21.00 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw contraction of 2.82 million (mn) units taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 11.43 mn units. The near month April 2013 derivatives contract will expire on April 25, 2013.

From the most active contracts, JP Associates April 2013 futures were trading at a premium of 0.40 points at 78.40 compared with spot closing of 78.00. The number of contracts traded was 16,670.

Reliance Communications April 2013 futures were trading at a premium of 0.60 points at 94.70 compared with spot closing of 94.10. The number of contracts traded was 24,795.

HDFC Bank April 2013 futures were trading at a premium of 4.50 points at 689.85 compared with spot closing of 685.35. The number of contracts traded was 23,886.

ICICI Bank April 2013 futures were at a discount of 0.10 points at 1162.40 compared with spot closing of 1162.50. The number of contracts traded was 27,276. 

Reliance Industries April 2013 futures were at a premium of 0.40 points at 803.95 compared with spot closing of 803.55. The number of contracts traded was 24,688.

Among Nifty calls, 5,900 SP from the April month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.65 million open interest.

Among Nifty puts, 5,600 SP from the April month expiry was the most active put with contraction of 0.67 million open interest.

The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 5900 SP (8.31 mn) and that for Puts was at 5,600 SP (9.05 mn).

The respective Support and Resistance levels are: Resistance 5856.95 -- Pivot Point 5824.25 -- Support 5804.2.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) OI wise stood at 1.51 for April -month contract.

The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Havells 206.00, Auro Pharma 2.44, Bharti Airtel 2.33, Maruti 2.04 and Col Pal 2.00.

Among most active underlying, RCOM witnessed contraction of 8.96 million of Open Interest in the April month futures contract followed by Unitech which witnessed contraction of 12.88 million of Open Interest in the near month contract. Meanwhile, Jaiprakash Associates witnessed contraction of 10.57 million in the April month futures. Also, IFCI witnessed contraction of 24.97 million in Open Interest in the April month contract. Finally, HDIL witnessed an addition of 0.34 million of Open Interest in the near month futures contract.