Nifty ends above crucial 5,900 level; HUL rallies on strong results

CNX Nifty ended higher on Monday led by gains in FMCG, realty, and IT sectors. Positive regional shares also helped Nifty once again to close above the 5,900 mark. Further, better-than-expected annual results from index heavyweight Hindustan Unilever (HUL) also added to the market’s gain. On the global front, Asian markets ended the session mostly in green ahead of slew of economic data and central bank policy meetings in the euro zone and United States. Meanwhile, European markets made a positive opening on Monday. 

Back home, Indian equity benchmark made a positive start with Nifty inching towards its crucial 5,900 mark. In the first half, market traded in narrow range in green as investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's annual monetary policy on May 3. However, in the late afternoon session, market broke out of its range-bound trade and crossed 5,900 mark on account of buying in front line blue chip counters and taking cues from European counterparts. Investor sentiments also got a boost after the government reached an agreement with the opposition over the issue of allowing the smooth functioning of the Parliament so that several important legislations could be passed. Finally, Nifty ended the session with a gain of 32 points.

Meanwhile, most of the sectoral indices on the NSE made a positive closing. CNX FMCG up by 2.31%, CNX Realty up by 1.77%, CNX IT up by 0.72% and CNX Auto up by 0.66% remained the top gainers in the trade. While, CNX Metal down 1.25% and CNX Pharma down 0.19% remained the losers in the trade. The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility, up by 3.24% and reached 14.33.

The India VIX witnessed an addition of 3.24% at 14.33 as compared to its previous close of at 13.88 on Friday.

The 50-share CNX Nifty gain 32.65 points or 0.56% to settle at 5,904.10.

Nifty May 2013 futures closed at 5918.20 on Monday at a premium of 14.10 points over spot closing of 5,904.10, while Nifty June 2013 futures ended at 5929.15, at a premium of 25.05 points over spot closing. Nifty May futures saw an addition of 0.34 million (mn) units taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 16.16 mn units. The near month May 2013 derivatives contract will expire on May 30, 2013.

From the most active contracts, Reliance Communications May 2013 futures were trading at a premium of 0.70 points at 101.05 compared with spot closing of 100.35. The number of contracts traded was 22,327.

DLF May 2013 futures were trading at a premium of 1.30 points at 242.85 compared with spot closing of 241.55. The number of contracts traded was 11,010.

Reliance Industries May 2013 futures were trading at a discount of 5.00 points at 788.50 compared with spot closing of 793.50. The number of contracts traded was 12,624.

Reliance Capital May 2013 futures were at a premium of 2.45 points at 359.70 compared with spot closing of 357.25. The number of contracts traded was 10,428. 

Hindustan Unilever May 2013 futures were at a premium of 2.35 points at 500.45 compared with spot closing of 498.10. The number of contracts traded was 41,823.

Among Nifty calls, 5,900 SP from the May month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.07 million open interest.

Among Nifty puts, 5,700 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.62 million open interest.

The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 5,900 SP (4.66 mn) and that for Puts was at 5,700 SP (5.50 mn).

The respective Support and Resistance levels are: Resistance 5925.57 -- Pivot Point 5897.18 -- Support 5875.72.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) OI wise stood at 1.16 for May -month contract.

The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Ultra Cement 2.93, Siemens 2.01, Axis Bank 1.37, Hero Moto Co 1.35, and federal BNK 1.25.

Among most active underlying, IFCI witnessed contraction of 0.08 million of Open Interest in the May month futures contract followed by Unitech which witnessed contraction of 1.41 million of Open Interest in the near month contract. Meanwhile, Jaiprakash Associates witnessed an addition of 0.30 million in the May month futures. Also, RCOM witnessed an addition of 0.48 million in Open Interest in the May month contract. Finally, R Power witnessed an addition of 0.49 million of Open Interest in the near month futures contract.