Equity Futures: Options point to indecisiveness ahead of expiryEquity Futures: Options point to indecisiveness ahead of expiry

Equity Futures: Options point to indecisiveness ahead of expiry

Informist, Monday, Mar 27, 2023

 

By Padmini Dhruvaraj 

 

MUMBAI – Indecisiveness and caution prevailed among investors today, two days before the expiry of monthly options in the derivatives market. Put options unwinding was high at the strike price of 17000 points, while premiums at call options of 17000 strike price closed nearly flat. 

 

"Technically, the intraday texture of the market was non-directional," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities. 

 

Open interest was the highest at call options of 17000 strike price, with 2.69 mln new positions being added. However, premiums rose only 0.1% to 89.05 rupees.

 

This is, however, because the Nifty 50, which had crossed its psychologically-important levels of 17000, fell sharply during the second half of the trading session. As a result, jittery call options holders squared off their positions. 

 

Amid uncertain global environment, participants are not reacting positively to any intermediate uptick in world indices and now a fresh decline in the broader markets is further adding to their worries," said Ajit Mishra, vice president of technical research at Religare Broking

 

Additionally, premiums of put options between strike prices of 17050-17300 of the March contracts were higher than that of 17000, indicating that the Nifty 50 might end the monthly expiry below those levels. 

 

Data on the call options front also indicated a similar trend as sellers aggressively sold contracts between 17200-17500 for lesser premiums ranging between 15.95 rupees and 1.70 rupees.

 

"The technical chart indicates bearishness for the Nifty 50 until the end of April," said Brijesh Ail, head of technical and derivatives at IDBI Capital Markets and Securities. "On the same lines, the Nifty 50 is expected to end between 16800-17000 for the March expiry," he added.

 

Ail also said the rollovers have been relatively lesser from March to April contracts, which also indicates caution in the market.

 

Traders rolled over 28% positions to the April series of the Nifty 50 as of Monday, slightly higher than the average of the past three expiries of 27%, according to brokerage firm Nirmal Bang.

 

On the futures front, the March futures contract of the Nifty 50 closed at a premium of 38.85 points to the spot index today. Open interest was 0.67% lower at 11.09 mln, as per provisional data.

 

--Nifty 50 Mar closed at 17024.55, up 69.50 points; 38.85-point premium to spot index

 

--Nifty 50 Apr closed at 17115.15, up 67.25 points; 129.45-point premium to spot index

 

--Nifty 50 May closed at 17175, up 63.30 points; 189.30-point premium to spot index

 

The total turnover in the futures and options segment of the National Stock Exchange was 181.72 trln rupees today, as against 136.44 trln rupees on Friday.

 

The turnover in index options was 177.27 trln rupees, compared with 132.26 trln rupees in the previous session. The total premium turnover of index and stock options was 662.25 bln rupees, compared with 636.36 bln rupees on Friday.

 

Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, and Adani Enterprises were among the most actively traded underlying stocks.

 

End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Vidhi Verma

 

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 /+91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2023. All rights reserved.

 

Equity Futures: Options point to indecisiveness ahead of expiry

Informist, Monday, Mar 27, 2023

 

By Padmini Dhruvaraj 

 

MUMBAI – Indecisiveness and caution prevailed among investors today, two days before the expiry of monthly options in the derivatives market. Put options unwinding was high at the strike price of 17000 points, while premiums at call options of 17000 strike price closed nearly flat. 

 

"Technically, the intraday texture of the market was non-directional," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities. 

 

Open interest was the highest at call options of 17000 strike price, with 2.69 mln new positions being added. However, premiums rose only 0.1% to 89.05 rupees.

 

This is, however, because the Nifty 50, which had crossed its psychologically-important levels of 17000, fell sharply during the second half of the trading session. As a result, jittery call options holders squared off their positions. 

 

Amid uncertain global environment, participants are not reacting positively to any intermediate uptick in world indices and now a fresh decline in the broader markets is further adding to their worries," said Ajit Mishra, vice president of technical research at Religare Broking

 

Additionally, premiums of put options between strike prices of 17050-17300 of the March contracts were higher than that of 17000, indicating that the Nifty 50 might end the monthly expiry below those levels. 

 

Data on the call options front also indicated a similar trend as sellers aggressively sold contracts between 17200-17500 for lesser premiums ranging between 15.95 rupees and 1.70 rupees.

 

"The technical chart indicates bearishness for the Nifty 50 until the end of April," said Brijesh Ail, head of technical and derivatives at IDBI Capital Markets and Securities. "On the same lines, the Nifty 50 is expected to end between 16800-17000 for the March expiry," he added.

 

Ail also said the rollovers have been relatively lesser from March to April contracts, which also indicates caution in the market.

 

Traders rolled over 28% positions to the April series of the Nifty 50 as of Monday, slightly higher than the average of the past three expiries of 27%, according to brokerage firm Nirmal Bang.

 

On the futures front, the March futures contract of the Nifty 50 closed at a premium of 38.85 points to the spot index today. Open interest was 0.67% lower at 11.09 mln, as per provisional data.

 

--Nifty 50 Mar closed at 17024.55, up 69.50 points; 38.85-point premium to spot index

 

--Nifty 50 Apr closed at 17115.15, up 67.25 points; 129.45-point premium to spot index

 

--Nifty 50 May closed at 17175, up 63.30 points; 189.30-point premium to spot index

 

The total turnover in the futures and options segment of the National Stock Exchange was 181.72 trln rupees today, as against 136.44 trln rupees on Friday.

 

The turnover in index options was 177.27 trln rupees, compared with 132.26 trln rupees in the previous session. The total premium turnover of index and stock options was 662.25 bln rupees, compared with 636.36 bln rupees on Friday.

 

Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, and Adani Enterprises were among the most actively traded underlying stocks.

 

End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Vidhi Verma

 

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 /+91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2023. All rights reserved.