More Stories

Informist, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024

By Anjana Therese Antony

MUMBAI – The options contracts of the Nifty 50 expiring Thursday and next week hinted at more pain for the index. Premiums on deep out-of-the-money call options expiring Thursday as well as next week tumbled and those on put contracts rose, hinting at the possibility of a further fall in the index in the near term. The index fell 5.7% in October, the sharpest monthly fall since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country. 

Analysts said foreign investors have been pulling money out of the domestic market and were also increasingly adding short positions in index futures this month, reversing the bullish trend seen in the last few months. On Tuesday, FIIs exited over 8,000 long positions in index futures and covered more than 11,000 short positions. Their long positions in index futures declined to 40% Tuesday from 81% at the end of September. The last time FIIs held record short positions was during the general elections in June on worries about political instability in the country. This, coupled with expensive valuations and earnings downgrades and the slowdown in financial growth of companies in India, pulled the market down in the previous four weeks. 

The benchmark Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex closed 0.5% lower each at 24340.85 points and 79942.18 points, respectively. The near-term support for the 50-stock index is pegged at 24200-24100 points and the resistance is seen at 24400-25500 points, technical and derivatives analysts at different broking firms said. The rise in the fear gauge, India VIX, also hints at the near-term nervousness in the market. The volatility index closed nearly 7% higher at 15.5100. 

Premiums on 24500-25000 call options of the Nifty 50 expiring Thursday declined around 68% and those on contracts expiring next week fell around 22%. Premiums on 24400-24000 put options expiring next week rose 24%. The maximum open interest addition was at 27000-point call and 23000-point put options. The October and November futures contracts of the Nifty 50 felt the heat of the cash market and closed lower. 

--Nifty 50 Oct closed at 24366.90, down 110.80 points; 26.05-point premium to spot index

--Nifty 50 Nov closed at 24508.00, down 104.30 points; 167.15-point premium to spot index

--Nifty 50 Dec closed at 24662.95, down 98.30 points; 322.10-point premium to spot index

HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Mauti Suzuki India, Dixon Technologies India, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Adani Enterprises, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Aeronautics, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Larsen & Toubro were the most actively traded contracts.  End

Edited by Saji George Titus

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.