Nifty ends lower on profit-booking; closes above 6,000 level

CNX Nifty snapping the three-sessions winning streak, ended lower on Thursday as investors preferred to book profits in sectors such as metal, pharma and realty after benchmark indices surged to three-month high in previous session. On the global front, Asian markets too turned choppy after a firm opening after Chinese data showed consumer prices rose more than expected. Moreover, most of the European markets made negative opening in early deals on Thursday.

Back home, Indian equity benchmark made a flat start despite firm global cues as the US markets ended higher overnight shrugging off the early pessimism on the back of some good earnings announcement and better economic data from China. In the first half, market traded in red as investors opted to book their profits ahead of the consumer price index and industrial production data due on May 10, 2013. Market continued its negative trade in the second half too amid selling in frontline counters and taking cues from European counterparts. Selling was witnessed in metal, pharma, realty and media stocks. Finally, Nifty ended the session with a loss of 19 points. 
 
Meanwhile, most of the sectoral indices on the NSE made a negative closing. CNX Pharma down 1.74%, CNX Metal down 1.28%, CNX Realty down 1.08%, CNX Media down 0.85% and CNX Energy down 0.59% remained the top losers in the trade. While, CNX PSU Bank up by 1.58%, CNX IT up by 0.73% and CNX FMCG up by 0.06%. The India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility, down by 0.95% and reached 16.60.

The India VIX witnessed contraction of 0.95% at 16.60 as compared to its previous close of at 16.76 on Wednesday. The 50-share CNX Nifty lost 19.15 points or 0.32% to settle at 6,050.15.

Nifty May 2013 futures closed at 6048.95 on Thursday at a discount of 1.20 points over spot closing of 6050.15, while Nifty June 2013 futures ended at 6054.55, at a premium of 4.40 points over spot closing. Nifty May futures saw an addition of 0.38 million (mn) units taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 21.59 mn units. The near month May 2013 derivatives contract will expire on May 30, 2013.

From the most active contracts, Reliance Power May 2013 futures were trading at a premium of 0.25 points at 79.70 compared with spot closing of 79.45. The number of contracts traded was 12,288.

Reliance Industries May 2013 futures were trading at a discount of 7.05 points at 812.25 compared with spot closing of 819.30. The number of contracts traded was 12,168.

ICICI Bank May 2013 futures were trading at a discount of 20.40 points at 1133.60 compared with spot closing of 1154.00. The number of contracts traded was 13,141.

Reliance Capital May 2013 futures were at a discount of 0.85 points at 373.85 compared with spot closing of 374.70. The number of contracts traded was 15,227. 

Reliance Infrastructure May 2013 futures were at a discount of 1.40 points at 403.60 compared with spot closing of 405.00. The number of contracts traded was 20,576.

Among Nifty calls, 6,200 SP from the May month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.61 million open interest.

Among Nifty puts, 5,800 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.32 million open interest.

The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 6,000 SP (6.84 mn) and that for Puts was at 5,800 SP (9.12 mn).

The respective Support and Resistance levels are: Resistance 6076.42 -- Pivot Point 6058.43 -- Support 6032.17.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) OI wise stood at 1.40 for May -month contract.

The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were Bharti Airtel 2.09, Siemens 2.04, Hero Moto Co 1.38, Kotak Bank 1.38 and Tata Motors 1.36.

Among most active underlying, Unitech witnessed  contraction of 2.98 million of Open Interest in the May month futures contract followed by Jaiprakash Associates which witnessed an addition of 0.64 million of Open Interest in the near month contract. Meanwhile, Rcom witnessed an addition of 0.89 million in the May month futures. Also, Reliance Power witnessed an addition of 1.72 million in Open Interest in the May month contract. Finally, Hindalco Industries witnessed contraction of 0.82 million of Open Interest in the near month futures contract.