LACKLUSTRE

The benchmark indices opened on a flat note and traded rangebound throughout the entire trading session and finally closed with modest gains. The sentiment was weak even after the RBI lowered its key policy rate yesterday, but struck a cautious note on further easing, citing concerns about the high current account deficit , fiscal deficit and inflationary risks. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 6 & 14 points respectively. The market breadth was also negative with 574 advances to 922 declines. On the sectoral front, the Energy sector gained the most followed by the Banking sector while there was hardly any activity in the other sectors which closed with minor losses or gains. On the individual stocks front, DLF, Cipla, Hind Unilever, Sesa Goa & Reliance were the top five Nifty gainers while GAIL, PNB, Tata Power, Larsen toubro & Jindal Steel were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 906 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 1096 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net buyers in both Index futures and Options to the tune of 334 and 957 crores respectively, while they were net sellers in Stock futures to the tune of 162 crores and net buyers in Stock options to the tune of 208 crores. Nifty future settled at 6060 with 6 points discount to the spot along with considerable loss of open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 0.96, along with a marginal decrease in the India VIX by 0.62%. On the Call as well as Put options side, there was uniform shedding of opening interest, from the 5000 to 6200 calls and puts indicating the rollover activity was in full swing. The entire activity in the Cash market was once again stock specific, while in the F&O space, it was completely dominated by rollover activity.

On the technical side, Nifty managed to close above the 6050 mark, amid another lacklustre trading session marked by extremely negative market breadth and persistent selling by domestic participants. Tomorrow being the future’s expiry day, the levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6070 & 6089 on the upside and 6042, 6020 & 5988 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee strengthened to its highest level in three and half months, helped by dollar inflows for upcoming share sales and positive sentiment on the back of a strong euro. The partially convertible rupee finally closed at 53.30 while the near month USD-INR future closed at 53.52 for the day.

On the international markets front the Asian markets have closed on a very strong note, while the European markets have closed in the red and the U.S. stocks have fallen after data showed that the economy unexpectedly shrank last quarter and investors await Federal Reserve’s policy announcement.  On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading almost flat at 114.61 and 97.58 $/bbl respectively after an unexpected rise in weekly U.S. crude oil inventories, while the Natural Gas future is trading up by 2.03% at 3.32 $/MMBtu after a more than expected fall in weekly U.S. Natural gas inventories.

REBOUND

The markets opened on an absolutely flat note, and traded rangebound for the entire first half of the trading session, but just at the start of the second half of the trading session, the markets started gaining strength and gradually inched upwards with every passing hour and ultimately both the benchmark indices closed near their highest point of the day. The market breadth was also positive with 926 advances to 585 declines. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 55 and 180 points respectively. On the sectoral front the Midcap sector was the biggest gainer followed by the FMCG, Banking, Auto, Pharma & IT sectors. On the individual stocks front, Bank of Baroda, JP Associate, Reliance Infra, Maruti & Jindal Steel were the top five Nifty gainers, while Ultratech Cement, Tata Power, ACC, Coal India & Axis Bank were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the Institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 587 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 332 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, there was very little activity, where FIIs were net sellers in Index futures to the tune of 313 crores and net buyers in Index Options to the tune of 313 crores, while they were net buyers in both Stock futures and Options to the tune of 334 and 15 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6074 with one point discount to the spot along with a considerable loss of open interest. On the Options side, PCR stood at 1.06 along with a rise in the India VIX by 2.14%. On the Call options side, the 6100 call lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 6000, 5900 & 6200 calls, while on the Put Options side the 6000 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6100 put. The entire activity in the cash market saw across the sector buying while in the F&O side the Index futures continued to shed their positions, and on the Options side, it was more of a short covering along with some Put writing at higher levels to hedge the long positions.

On the technical side, once again Nifty bounced back from the 6000 levels and closed strongly above it on the back of positive sentiments from the international markets and seems to have arrested the downslide temporarily that was supposed to begin after Thursday’s close. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6098 & 6122 on the upside and 6034 & 6006 on the downside. The key factors to watch out for next week will be RBI’s policy review on Tuesday and earnings of blue chip companies. The currency market was closed due to a holiday, hence there were no updates from this front.

On the international markets front, the Asian and the European markets closed on a very strong note, while the U.S. stocks rose for the week amid better than expected corporate earnings and economic data as lawmakers voted to temporarily suspend the federal debt limit. On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and the WTI crude oil futures closed almost flat at 113.28 & 95.88 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural Gas future also closed  flat at 3.44 $/MMBtu.

BREAKDOWN

The markets opened on a negative note inspite of positive cues from its Asian peers, and finally touched their intraday lows within an hour of initial trade and continued to trade rangebound for the entire trading session and  finally closed down near their lowest level of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed down by 35 and 103 points respectively. The market breadth was also grim with 270 advances to 1264 declines. On the sectoral front, the Midcap sector was the biggest loser followed by the Auto, Energy, Banking and Metal sectors while the FMCG sector was the sole and biggest gainer for the day. On the individual stocks front, Hind Unilever, ITC, LT, TCS & Kotak Bank were the top five Nifty gainers while Tata Motors, JP Associate, GAIL, Cipla & Ranbaxy were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 1026 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 752 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side Nifty future settled at 6020 with just 1 point premium to the spot along with a massive loss of open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 1.04, along with an increase in the India VIX by 5.78%. On the Options side, the 6100 call added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6000, 5900 & 6200 calls, while on the Put options side except the 5800 put which added the maximum open interest, there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 puts. The activity in the Cash markets indicates across the sector selling along with stock specific activity, while on the F&O side there was further liquidation of positions in Index futures along with massive call writing at higher levels, indicating the weak market sentiment and suggesting that the uptrend may finally be coming to an end.

On the technical side, Nifty came very close to breaching the 6000 level and finally showed signs of a breakdown which will become evident if this mild correction continues for at least two more sessions. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6053 & 6080 on the upside and 5999 & 5965 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee was weighed down by strong dollar demands from oil firms, but RBI’s notification of increase in foreign institutional investment limits in debt prompted dollar selling by exporters. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 53.68 while the near month USD-INR future settled at 53.69 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian and the European markets have closed on a very strong note, and the U.S. stocks markets have risen after an unexpected drop in jobless claims and better than forecast earnings offset a slump in Apple Inc. On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading up by 0.44 & 1.09% at 113.30 & 96.27 $/bbl respectively even after a more than expected rise in U.S. weekly crude oil inventories while the Natural gas future is trading down by 2.15% at 3.47 $/MMBtu even after a more than expected fall in U,S. weekly Natural gas inventories.

STRUGGLE

Once again the markets opened on positive note and continued to trade rangebound for the entire first half of the trading session and with just one hour into the second half of the session the markets started falling and touched their intraday lows but with just 45 minutes left for the end of the day's session the markets made an almost V shaped recovery and managed to close near their highest point of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 6 and 45 points respectively, but the market breadth continued to close in the negative with 420 advances to 1100 declines. On the sectoral front there was hardly any activity, but still the Banking sector was the biggest gainer and the Midcap sector was the biggest loser for the day. On the individual stocks front, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, ITC, HeroMotocorp & ICICI Bank were the top five Nifty gainers while Hind Unilever, HCL Tech, JP Associate, IDFC & BPCL were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 803 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 852 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in Index futures to the tune of 297 crores and net buyers in Index Options to the tune of 1226 crores while they were net sellers in Stock futures to the tune of 311 crores and net buyers in stock options to the tune of mere 2 crores. Nifty future settled at 6069 with just 15 points premium to the spot along with a considerable loss of open interest. On the options side PCR stood at 1.13 along with a fall in the India VIX by 1.58%. On the Call options side, except the 6200 call there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6100 call. On the Put Options side, the 5900 put added the maximum open interest followed by the 5400 and 5000 puts while the 6000 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 6100 and 5700 puts. The entire activity in the cash markets was stock specific while the undertone was very negative and on the F&O side more positions were liquidated in the Index futures and options indicating lack of participation due to absence of any fresh triggers ahead of the monetary policy review next week.

On the technical side, as expected Nifty continued to trade rangebound for another day and closed on a lackluster note. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6073 and 6097 on the upside and 6026 & 5996 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee swayed in two way gains today, before settling higher, helped by gains in Euro and foreign fund related selling, while the currency gained comfort from the central bank’s move to ease exporters access to forex market. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 53.66 while the near month USD-INR future settled at 53.62 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian markets have closed on a missed note, while the European markets have closed on a flat note and the U.S. stocks are fluctuating between gains and losses as lawmakers prepared to vote on the federal borrowing limit and investors weigh corporate earnings reports. On the energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil future are trading almost flat at 112.67 & 96.40 $/bbl respectively and the Natural gas future is also trading almost flat at 3.54 $/MMBtu.

RESTLESS

The markets opened on an absolutely flat note but touched their intraday highs within initial one hour of trade but could not sustain their momentum and after trading almost flat for the first half of the trading session, the markets entered the negative zone and from that point onwards there was no looking back and the markets ultimately closed near their lowest point of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed down by 34 and 120 points respectively. The market breadth also turned extremely negative with 424 advances to 1103 declines. On the sectoral front, the FMCG sector was the biggest loser, followed by the Banking, Midcap, IT, & Energy sectors. On the individual stocks front, Asian Paint, ACC, NTPC, Kotak Bank and Sun Pharma were the top five Nifty gainers, while GAIL, Hind Unilever, HCL Tech, Hindalco & Cairn were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 1046 crores and the DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 855 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, there was very little activity, with FIIs turning net sellers in Index futures and Options to the tune of mere 33 and 128 crores respectively and the story was same on the Stock futures and Options side where they turned net sellers to the tune of 102 & 101 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6061, with just 13 points premium to the spot along with a considerable loss of open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 1.03 along with a increase in the India VIX by 1.68%. On the Call options side, the 6200 call added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6100 and 6000 calls while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 5900 calls. On the Put options side, except the 5700 put there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 puts. The entire activity in the cash market was again stock specific while the overall sentiment was grim and in the F&O space the sudden fall gave the participants opportunity for some call writing at higher levels, while on the Index futures side more positions were liquidated indicating the weakening of the trend.

On the technical side, after trading in a very tight range for four consecutive sessions Nifty finally gave away some of the gains, indicating that a top formation might have occurred, but its too early to say whether there will be any trend change but the F&O data coupled with the weak sentiment in the cash markets indicate that a trend change might be in the offing. Going by the sentiment and international market trends we may see more lackluster sessions like these, before actual correction sets in. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6086 & 6124 on the upside and 6016 and 5990 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee ended lower today after gains from the government’s move to raise the import tax on gold were erased by dollar demand from state run banks and weak equities. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 53.81 while the USD-INR future settled at 53.75 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian markets have closed on a mixed note, while the European markets have closed in the red and the U.S. stocks have also fallen on the lower than expected corporate results and more than expected fall in the existing home sales data. On the energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading up by 0.32 & 0.60% at 112.03 & 96.62 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural gas future is trading down by 0.86% at 3.53 $/MMBtu.

INDECISION

The markets opened on a fairly optimistic note for the third consecutive session buoyed by the better than expected corporate results from the heavyweights and touched their two year highs today but the undertone was not very optimistic, which was reflected in the advance decline ratio of 690 advances to 822 declines. The Nifty and the Sensex finally closed up by 18 and 63 points respectively. On the sectoral front, the FMCG sector was the biggest gainer, followed by the Energy and Infra sectors. On the individual stocks front, Reliance Infra, BHEL, Reliance Industries, Larsen Toubro & Bharti Airtel were the top five Nifty gainers, while DLF, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors & TCS were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 843 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 890 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in both Index futures and Options, to the tune of 82 and 310 crores respectively, while they were net buyers in Stock futures and Options to the tune of 240 and 33 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6096 with just 14 points premium to the spot, along with a marginal increase in open interest. On the Options side, PCR stood at 1.12 along with a fall in the India VIX by 1.66%. On the Call options side, except the 6100 call there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 calls, while on the Put options side the 6100 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6000 and 6200 puts, while the 5600 put lost the maximum open interest. The entire activity in the cash market was once again sector specific, while in the F&O space profit booking continued in the options space along with marginal put writing at higher levels.

On the technical side, Nifty touched yet another milestone and there seems to be no stopping from here, but the underlying market breadth is not supportive of the upmove and the DIIs are continuing with their selling spree adding the element of skepticism and doubt as a result market participants are hesitant to participate at these levels. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be, 6095, 6109 & 6124 on the upside and  6051 & 6013 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee fell today snapping two sessions of gains, due to sustained dollar demand from oil refiners. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 53.76 and the near month USD-INR future closed at 53.97 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian markets have closed on a mixed note, while the European markets closed higher today as euro-area finance ministers met to address the region’s debt crisis and the U.S. markets are also trading in the green on the back of optimism from the Eurozone. On the energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading almost flat at 111.64 & 95.73 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural Gas future is trading up by 1.77% at 3.62 $/MMBtu.

CONSOLIDATION

The markets opened on a flat note but touched their intraday highs within the first half an hour of the trade but could not sustain the momentum and gradually lost all their gains at one point of the session, but some how managed to regain a part of it and close marginally in the positive. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 25 and 75 points respectively. The market breadth worsened as the session progressed and ultimately closed in the negative with 592 advances to 922 declines. On the sectoral front, the Energy sector was the biggest gainer, while the IT sector was the biggest loser followed by the Pharma and Auto sectors. On the individual stocks front, BPCL, ONGC, NTPC, Maruti and Power grid were the top five Nifty gainers for the day, while Wipro, Hero Motocorp, Dr. Reddy, Jindal Steel and Hind Unilever were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 116 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 968 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net buyers in Index futures to the tune of 216 crores and net sellers in Index Options to the tune of 108 crores, while they were net buyers in Stock futures to the tune of mere 13 crores and net sellers in Stock options to the tune of 94 crores. Nifty future settled at 6075 with just 11 points premium to the spot along with a negligible increase in open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 1.07 along with a marginal decrease in open interest. On the Call options side, there was hardly any activity, but still the 6100 call added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6200 call, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6000 call. On the Put options side, the 5700 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5800 put, while the 6000 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6100 & 6200 puts. The entire activity in the Cash markets was stock specific while in the F&O space as the markets touched new levels markets participants took selective positions on the higher side with addition of longs along with Put writing at higher levels to hedge their positions.

On the technical side, spot Nifty closed strongly above the 6000 mark for the third consecutive session but much of the upmove will depend on the corporate results and expectations building up ahead of the quarterly monetary policy review. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6082, 6100 & 6117 on the upside and 6030 and 6008 on the downside. On the Currency front, the Rupee strengthened to its highest level in two and a half months on Friday as the government’s decision to partially deregulate diesel and a broad risk on sentiment globally boosted the currency. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 53.71, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 53.86 for the day.

On the International markets front, the Asian markets have closed on a very strong note, while the European markets have closed on a mixed note and the U.S. stocks rose as House Republicans plan to vote next week on a temporary increase in debt limit and investors watched corporate earnings. On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures closed almost flat at 111.89 & 95.56 $/bbl respectively and Natural Gas future closed up by 2.06 % at 3.57 $/MMBtu.

JITTERY

The benchmark indices opened on a negative note, tracking their global peers and traded with a strong negative bias throughout the day and ultimately both the indices closed near their lowest point of the day. The decline was mainly led by the rate sensitives, followed by media reports that the RBI chief raised concerns about the high inflation, denting hopes of any rate cuts this month. The Nifty and the Sensex closed down by 55 & 169 points respectively. The market breadth was extremely negative with 329 advances to 1198 declines. On the sectoral front, the Banking sector was the biggest loser followed by the Midcap and Auto sectors. On the individual stocks front, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, Dr. Reddy, Power Grid & TCS were the top five Nifty gainers, while Hindalco, JP Associates, Tata Motors, Reliance Infra & Maruti were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 1029 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 692 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in Index futures to the tune of 343 crores and net buyers in Index options to the tune of 1462 crores, while they were net buyers in Stock futures to the tune of 196 crores and net sellers in Stock options to the tune of 105 crores. Nifty future settled at 6019, with just 17 points premium to the spot, along with a massive fall in open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 0.97, along with a rise in the India VIX by 3.02%. On the Call options side, the 6100 call added the maximum open interest followed by the 6000 & 6200 calls, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 5800 calls. On the Put options side, the 6000 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5900, 6100 & 6200 puts, while the 5700 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5800 put. The entire activity in the Cash markets was once again stock specific while in the F&O space, profit booking continued in the Index futures space along with Call writing at higher levels and marginal increase of long positions on the lower side of the trading range in the Put options.

On the technical side, as expected the signs of fall were evident yesterday and that is what exactly happened today and Nifty somehow managed to close above the 6000 mark, but the continuous profit booking on the futures side along with shrinking premium on Nifty futures points to lower levels going forward, but the downside appears to be limited since there are no meaning full shorts in the system to trigger a full blown correction. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6020 & 6048 on the upside and 5974 & 5957 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee weakened for a second straight session today as sustained dollar demand for oil firms and weak regional sentiment prompted investors to cover short dollar positions. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 54.69, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 54.84 for the day.

On the international market side, the Asian markets particularly Nikkei ended deep in the red, while the European markets have also closed on a mixed note and the U.S stock markets are also trading with losses as World Bank downgraded global growth forecasts and concerns about Europe’s economy grew after weak economic data from Europe. On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading up by 0.36 & 0.96% at 110.03 & 94.62 $/bbl respectively after a fall in the U.S. weekly crude oil inventories, while the Natural gas future is trading down by 2.05% at 3.38 $/MMBtu.

CAUTION

The markets opened on a positive note, building upon yesterday’s gains and traded rangebound with a positive bias for greater part of the day and with just one and a half hour left for the end of the day’s session the markets made an almost vertical rise and touched their intraday highs, before closing very near to their day’s high. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 32 & 80 points respectively. The market breadth was evenly poised with 749 advances to 752 declines. On the sectoral front, the FMCG sector was the biggest gainer followed by the Banking, Energy and Infra sectors. On the individual stocks front, Bharti Airtel, Ambuja Cement, BPCL, Ultratech Cement & Axis Bank were the top five Nifty gainers, while Sesa Goa, HCL Tech, Asian Paint, Coal India & Power Grid were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the Institutional side FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 1077 crores and the DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 756 crores in the cash markets.

On the derivatives side, there was hardly any activity, where the FIIs were net sellers in Index futures to the tune of 103 crores and net buyers in Index Options to the tune of mere 8 crores, while they were net buyers in Stock futures and Options to the tune of 67 & 17 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6081 with just 24 points premium to the spot, along with a considerable loss of premium. On the Options side PCR stood at 0.95 along with a fall in the India VIX by 0.88%. On the Call options side, there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 calls, but the 6100 call shed the maximum open interest followed by the 5900, 6200 & 6000 calls. On the Put options side, the 6000 put added the maximum open interest followed by the 6200 put, while the 5700 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5600 put. The entire activity in the Cash market was stock specific and the FIIs continued with their buying spree. On the F&O side profit booking took place in the Index futures and options space as market participants decided to shed some of their long positions ahead of the uncertainties surrounding the international markets.

On the technical side, Nifty closed strongly above the 6000 mark for the second consecutive session with marginal increase in volumes , but the profit booking in the F&O space coupled with reducing premium on the Nifty future doesn't augur well for the markets and we may see a subdued session tomorrow. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6076 & 6097 on the upside and 6026 & 5986 on the downside. On the currency front the Rupee weakened today, hurt by dollar demand from oil firms and companies, but demand from the custodian banks prevented a sharper slide. The partially convertible Rupee, finally closed at 54.61, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 54.71 for the day.

On the international markets front, except Nikkei all the Asian markets closed with minor losses, while the European markets have closed in the red and the U.S stocks have also fallen on worries over debate regarding raising the U.S. borrowing limit. On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading down by 0.68 & 0.44% at 110.20 & 94.17 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural gas future is trading up by 1.68% at 3.42 $/MMBtu.

SURPRISED

The benchmark indices opened on a flat note and traded in the same range for the initial one hour of trade, but as the news of GAAR being postponed till 2016, hit the markets, the markets reacted instantly and rose almost vertically and gained strength with every passing hour and ultimately both the indices closed at the their highest point of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 73 and 243 points respectively. The market breadth was also positive with 910 advances to 593 declines. On the sectoral front, the IT sector was the biggest gainer followed by the FMCG, Banking, Midcap & Energy sectors. On the individual stocks front, DLF, ONGC, Hcl Tech, Infosys & Jindal steel were the top five Nifty gainers, while Maruti, Lupin, Cipla, Bajaj Auto & Power Grid were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the Institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 611 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 1210 crores in the cash markets.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in Index futures and Options to the tune of 92 & 65 crores respectively, while they were net buyers in Stock Options to the tune of 244 crores and net sellers in Stock Options to the tune of 144 crores. Nifty futures settled at 6057 with 33 points premium to the spot, along with a marginal increase in open interest. On the Options side, PCR stood at 1.11, along with a rise in the India VIX by 3.55%. On the Call options side, the 6000 call lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 6100 & 5900 calls, while the 6200 call added the maximum open interest. On the Put Options side, the 5700 put lost the maximum open interest followed by the 5800 put, while the 6000 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 5900 & 6100 puts. The entire activity in the cash markets saw across the sector buying today. In the F&O markets Index futures added some long positions along with the short covering on the call options side and Put writing on the higher side of the markets.

On the technical side, once again Nifty managed to close above the 6000 mark, mainly due to the massive short covering on the futures side, but today’s gain can only be sustained if the better than expected market results, lead to buying on the domestic front also. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6053 & 6082 on the upside and 5978, 5942 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee strengthened for the fourth session as lower than expected inflation numbers further raised expectations that the central bank will cut interest rates later this month to boost economic growth. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 54.49, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 54.61 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian markets have closed on a fairly positive note, while the European markets have closed with marginal losses and the U.S. markets are also trading with losses as investors watch corporate earnings reports. On the energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading almost flat at 110.14 & 93.84 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural gas future is trading up by 1.40% at 3.37 $/MMBtu.

DOWNTREND ?

The markets opened on an absolutely flat note and somehow managed to trade in the positive zone for the entire first half of the trading session, but post that point the markets traded very rangeboud for the next two hours, and with just one and a half hours left for the end of the day’s session, the markets finally broke down and touched their lowest point of the day and finally closed at their lowest point of the day, till the end of the session. The market breadth was extremely negative with 361 advances to 1159 declines. On then sectoral front, the IT sector was the sole and the biggest gainer for the day, while the FMCG sector was the biggest loser followed by the Banking, Midcap, Energy and Auto sectors. On the individual stocks front, Infosys, Wipro, TCS. Sesa Goa & HCL Tech were the top five Nifty gainers while JP Associate, Jindal Steel, Kotak Bank, Hind Unilever & ONGC were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the Institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 825 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 516 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net buyers in Index futures and Options to the tune of 180 and 495 crores respectively and they were net buyers in Stock futures and net sellers in Stock options to the tune of 299 and 214 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 5977 with just 26 points premium to the spot, along with a considerable loss of open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 1.01, along with a marginal decrease in open interest by 0.30%. On the Call options side, the 6000 call added the maximum open interest followed by the 5900 & 5800 calls. On the Put options side, the 5700 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 5900 put, while the 6000 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5600 put. The entire activity in the cash market indicates long positions were created in undervalued sectors, while there was profit booking in the sectors with overstretched valuations. On the F&O side, profit booking continued in Index futures along with call writing at higher levels and long positions in the Put options on the lower side of the markets trading range.

On the technical side, although Nifty closed at a critical support of 5950, three consecutive sessions of declines has changed the short term trend and the levels to watch out for Nifty, will be 5999 & 6028 on the upside and 5933, 5900 & 5878 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee fell on Friday as output contracted and exports fell for the eighth straight month highlighting the currency’s vulnerability to the weak economy despite sustained capital inflows. The partially convertible rupee finally closed at 54.75, while the near month USD-INR future closed at 54.91 for the day.

On the international markets front, except Nikkei the Asian markets closed in the red, while the European and the U.S.markets closed on a almost flat note. On the energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures closed down by 1.12 & 0.28% at 110.64 & 93.56 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural gas future closed up by 4.80% at 3.33 $/MMBtu.

DIRECTIONLESS

The benchmark indices opened on an absolutely flat note, and traded in a very narrow range throughout the day and ultimately closed almost flat at the end of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed down by 3 points each. The market breadth was extremely negative with 500 advances to 1010 declines. On the sectoral front, the Banking sector was the biggest gainer followed by the FMCG sector, while the Pharma sector was the biggest loser, followed by the Midcap and IT sectors. On the individual stocks front, ONGC, Tata Motors, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank & HDFC Bank were the top five Nifty gainers and Ultratech Cement, Ambuja Cement, BHEL, Sesa Goa & Hindalco were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 249 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 433 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net buyers in Index futures and options to the tune of mere 54 and 377 crores respectively, while they were net sellers in Stock futures and Options to the tune of 362 & 25 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6003 with 35 points premium to the spot along with a considerable increase in open interest. On the Options side, PCR stood at 0.98, along with a marginal decrease in the India VIX by 0.38%. On the Call options side, the 6000 call was the only call which added open interest, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 calls. On the Put Options side, the 5700 put added the maximum open interest followed by the 5800, 5900 & 6100 puts. The entire activity in the cash market was sector specific while in the F&O space profit booking continued on the Call options side along with corresponding addition of longs on the Put options side. Although the market closing was flat, but the market breadth is getting worse day by day, indicating tough times ahead of the corporate  results season.

On the technical side, Nifty closed below the 6000 mark once again with marginal increase in volumes and continued to stay rangebound for the third consecutive session and any further move will depend as the results season warms up. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 5999 and 6022 on the upside and 5948, 5936 & 5915 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee rose for a third straight session as continued capital inflows helped absorb steady dollar demand from oil refiners. The Rupee finally closed at 54.56 while the near month USD-INR future settled at 54.78 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian and the European markets have closed on a fairly positive note and the U.S. markets are also trading with gains as China’s exports beat estimates and ECB president Mario Draghi sees an economic rebound in late 2013. On the Energy futures front, both Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading up by 0.60 & 1.01% at 112.42 and 94.03 $/bbl respectively and the Natural Gas future is also trading up by  1.94% at 3.17 $/MMBtu.

NERVOUS

The markets opened on a mildly positive note on the back of threat of a possible downgrade by the prominent rating agencies, and traded in a narrow range till the start of the second half of the trading session, but from this point onwards the markets entered the negative zone and with just half an hour left for the end of the day’s session, the news that the government might sell diesel to cement and power companies at market rates hit the markets and the markets fell almost vertically within the next ten minutes and ultimately both the indices closed near their lowest points of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed down by 30 and 76 points respectively. The market breadth also worsened considerably and ultimately closed on a negative note with 600 advances to 923 declines. On the sectoral front, the FMCG sector was the biggest loser followed by the IT & Metal sectors. On the individual stocks front, Tata Motors, Gail, BPCL, State Bank of India & Bharti Airtel were the top five Nifty gainers while BHEL, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel, Ambuja Cement & ITC were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 849 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 518 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, there was hardly any activity with FIIs turning net sellers in Index futures to the tune of mere 15 crores and net buyers in Index options to the tune of 94 crores, while they were net sellers in both Stock futures and Options to the tune of 188 and 85 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 5999 with just 28 points premium to the spot along with a marginal loss of open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 0.90, along with a marginal increase in the India VIX by 0.38%. On the Call options side, the 6100 call added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6200 call, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 5800 calls. On the Put options side, the 5900 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 5800 put, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 puts. The entire activity in the Cash market was stock specific, while on the F&O side profit booking continued in the Index futures and options side and the sudden fall in the market prompted the market participants to go short on the higher side of the market.

On the technical side, as mentioned day before yesterday, that the uptrend might not be sustainable, if there is no meaningful pullback, and that is exactly what happened and the Nifty came perilously close to its major support level. Nifty once again fell below the 6000 mark, indicating that this level is going to be a major resistance unless there are any fresh triggers for the markets to rise from this level. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6008 & 6034 on the upside and 5948, 5927 & 5892 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee gained for a second straight session, boosted largely due to dollar sales from a large petrochemical firm, which helped offset the demand for the dollar from oil firms. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 54.75 while the near month USD-INR future settled at 55.00 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian and the European markets have closed on a fairly positive note, while the U.S. markets are trading with gains amidst investor optimism about fourth quarter corporate earnings. On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading almost flat at 111.50 & 93.05 $/bbl respectively, after  the data showed increase in the weekly U.S. crude oil inventories and the Natural Gas future is trading down by 3.31% at 3.11 $/MMBtu after the data showed an unexpected rise in weekly U.S. Natural gas inventories.

IMPATIENT

The markets opened on a very flat note, but after the initial two hours of trade, the markets finally started trading in the negative zone and traded in a narrow range for the next four hours and with just half an hour left for the end of the day’s session the markets fell almost vertically and ended at their lowest point of the day. The Nifty and the Sensex closed down by 28 and 93 points respectively. The market breadth was marginally positive with 841 advances to 683 declines. On the sectoral front, the FMCG sector was the biggest loser followed by the Banking sector while the Metal, Pharma & IT sectors closed marginally in the positive zone. On the individual stocks front, BPCL, Maruti, Cipla, Tata Steel & Cairn were the top five Nifty gainers, while LT, JP Associate, HDFC, Hind Unilever & HDFC Bank were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 963 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 901 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in Index futures to the tune of 185 crores and net buyers in Index options to the tune of 430 crores while they were net sellers in both Stock futures and Options to the tune of 367 and 103 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6024 with 36 points premium to the spot, along with a a considerable loss of open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 0.95, along with a rise in the India VIX by 4.11%. On the Call options side, the 6100 call added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6200 call, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6000 calls. On the Put options side, only the 5900 put added the maximum open interest, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 puts. The activity in the Cash markets was stock specific, while there was some profit booking in sectors which had a fared better than other sectors in the short term. On the F&O side, the profit booking continued for the second consecutive session amidst absence of any fresh triggers.

On the technical side, Nifty could not hold on to the 6000 mark and finally closed at 5988 just below the resistance level of 5991, which in fact formed a bearish engulfing pattern on the candlestick chart, indicating that the bears might take over from this point onwards, if there is no serious pullback tomorrow. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6027, 6067 on the upside and 5962, 5931 & 5914 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee fell to an over one month low today, extending its losing streak to a third session, dragged down by a steady demand of dollar form the oil refiners and fall in local shares. The partially convertible rupee finally closed at 55.23, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 55.47 for the day.

On the international markets front, both the Asian and the European markets have closed in the red, and the U.S. markets are also trading with losses ahead of the corporate earnings season starting tomorrow. On the Energy futures front both the Brent and WTI crude futures are trading almost flat at 111.11 & 93.02 $/bbl respectively and the Natural Gas future is trading marginally up by 0.44% at 3.30 $/MMBtu.

RESTLESS

Surprisingly the markets opened on a very subdued note and continued to trade with a negative bias throughout the day, but the just after one hour of the second half of the trading session, the markets started recovering slowly and ultimately recovered all their intraday losses, to close marginally in the positive till the end of the session. The Nifty and the Sensex closed marginally up by 7 & 19 points respectively. The market breadth also recovered considerably to close marginally in the negative with 758 advances to 776 declines. On the sectoral front, the story was the same where the Energy sector was the biggest gainer, while the rest of the sectors closed marginally in the positive or negative zone. On the individual stocks front, Cairn, Gail, BPCL, ONGC & BHEL were the top five Nifty gainers, while Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, Sesa Goa & HDFC were the top five Nifty losers for the day.  On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 1164 crores while DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 825 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in Index futures to the tune of 255 crores and net buyers in Index options to the tune of 771 crores in the Index options, while they were net sellers in Stock futures and Options to the tune of 95 & 171 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6048 with 32 points premium, along with a marginal decrease in open interest. On the Options side, PCR stood at 1.19, with a marginal decrease in India VIX by 0.75%. On the Call options side, the 6100 call added the maximum open interest, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 6200 calls. On the Put Options side, the 5700 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 5800, 6000 & 6100 puts. The entire activity in the Cash markets was stock specific while in the F&O space there was some profit booking in the Index futures as well as Call options, along with corresponding put writing from the lower levels to hedge the long positions.

On the technical side, Nifty somehow managed to close above the 6000 mark for the second consecutive session, and above the crucial resistance of 5978 for the third consecutive session, indicating a breakout has happened and the levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6030, 6044 & 6069 on the upside and 5978, 5966 & 5952 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee weakened for the second session on Friday, on the back fo dollar demand from oil and defence firms, while the global risk-off mood also prompted short-covering of dollar positions. The partially convertible rupee closed at 55.07, while the USD-INR future settled at 55.33 for the week.

On the international markets front, the Asian markets closed on a mixed note, while European and the U.S.markets have closed in a mildly positive note. On the Energy futures front, the Brent crude Oil future closed down by 0.74% at 111.31 $/bbl, while the WTI crude oil future closed up by 0.18% at 93.09 $/bbl and the Natural Gas future closed up by 2.78% at 3.29 $/MMBtu.

CONFIRMATION

The markets opened on a very positive note for the third consecutive session, but after the initial half an hour of trade, the markets briefly entered the negative zone, but form that point onwards the markets traded with a positive bias throughout the trading session and ultimately both the indices closed marginally in the positive zone. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 16 & 51 points respectively. The market breadth was positive with 899 advances to 610 declines. On the sectoral front, the Energy sector was the biggest gainer followed by the IT sector, while the FMCG sector was the biggest loser for the day. On the individual stocks front, Dr. Reddy, Cairn, Bharti Airtel, ONGC & DLF were the top five Nifty gainers, while Tata Power, Lupin, PNB, Sun Pharma & Hero MotoCorp were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, the FIIs were net buyers to the tune of a massive 1397 crores, while the DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 910 crores in the cash markets.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net buyers in both Index futures and Options to the tune of 433 and 334 crores respectively, while they were net buyers in Stock futures to the tune of 57 crores and net sellers in Stock options to the tune of 71 crores. Nifty future settled at 6039 with just 30 points premium to the spot along with a meager decrease in open interest. On the Options side, PCR stood at 1.16, along with a marginal decrease in India VIX by 1.75%. On the Call options side, the 6200 call added the maximum open interest, followed by the 5900 call, while there was uniform loss of open interest from the 5000 to 5800 calls. On the Put options side the 5900 & 6000 puts added the maximum open interest, while there was uniform loss of open interest form the 5000 to 5800 puts. The entire activity in the cash markets was stock specific and it also showed the strong conviction of the FIIs willingness to invest at these levels in the market. On the F&O side, profit booking continued at the lower levels , along with addition of long positions on the higher side of the markets.

On the technical side, Nifty closed above the 6000 mark and made a strong case for a breakout of the trading range. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6029, 6035 & 6053 on the upside and 5991 & 5973 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee dropped today after two consecutive day’s of gains amidst oil related dollar demand. The partially convertible rupee finally closed at 54.49, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 54.70 for the day.

On the International markets front the Asian markets closed on a fairly positive note, while the European markets have closed on a absolutely flat note, and the U.S stocks which fell initially after a data showed worst than forecast jobless claims, have risen after a rally among retailers offset concerns that the budget deal won’t reduce the deficit fast enough. On the Energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading almost flat at 112.36 & 93.19 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural gas future is trading down by 1.10% at 3.19 $/MMBtu.

UPSURGE

Once again the markets opened with a gap up after another dose of good news from the U.S. senate and maintained their momentum throughout the session and closed very near to their day’s high. The market breadth was positive with 958 advances to 568 declines. The Nifty and the Sensex closed up by 45 and 133 points respectively. On the sectoral front the Banking sector was the biggest gainer, followed by the Energy and Auto sectors. On the individual stocks front, Bajaj Auto, IDFC, JP Associate, BPCL & Maruti were the top five Nifty gainers, while Asian Paint, Wipro, Power Grid, ITC & Coal India were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 1108 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the tune of 417 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net buyers in Index futures and Options to the tune of 374 & 2547 crores respectively, while they were net sellers in Stock futures and Options to the tune of 159 & 26 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6035, with just 42 points premium to the spot, along with a marginal increase in open interest. On the Options side PCR stood at 0.96, with marginal increase in India VIX by 0.15%. On the Call options side, the 6200 call added the maximum open interest, while the 6000 call lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5900 call. On the Put options side, the 6100 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 5800 & 5900 puts, while the 5500 put lost the maximum open interest, followed by the 5600 put. The entire activity in the Cash market was sector specific and as usual FIIs played a major role in the upsurge. On the F&O side, there were addition of longs on the upper side of the market, while there was profit booking at the lower levels, and on the Put options side, there were addition of longs on the lower side, in order to hedge the sudden rise in the markets.

On the technical side, Nifty breached the 6000 level briefly and managed to close comfortably above the resistance zone for the second consecutive session. If Nifty sustains at this level for one more session, there is a real possibility that a breakout has happened. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be 6005, 6017 & 6029 on the upside and 5981, 5952 & 5903 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee made a strong rally against the dollar as optimism over the U.S. “fiscal cliff” deal boosted risk assets globally, but demand for dollars from oil firms pulled the Rupee off the day’s high. The partially convertible Rupee finally closed at 54.35, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 54.52 for the day.

On the international markets front, the Asian and the European markets started the year with a  bang and the U.S. markets are also trading with impressive gains as lawmakers passed a bill averting spending cuts and tax increases threatening a recovery in the world’s biggest economy. On the energy futures front, both the Brent and WTI crude oil futures are trading at their month highs at 112.17 & 92.87 $/bbl respectively, while the Natural Gas futures are trading  down by 4.42% at 3.20 $/MMBtu.

BREAKOUT ??

The markets opened with a gap up on the back of positive news from the U.S. senate, and maintained their positive momentum throughout the trading session and ultimately both the indices closed near their day’s high. The market breadth was extremely positive with 1102 advances to 409 declines. On the sectoral front, the Banking sector was the biggest gainer followed by the FMCG & Auto sectors. On the individual stocks front, Rel Infra, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, PNB & Tata Steel were the top five Nifty gainers while Power Grid, NTPC, Infosys, Asian Paint & Hero Motocorp were the top five Nifty losers for the day. On the institutional side, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of 665 crores and DIIs were net sellers to the 406 crores in the cash market.

On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in Index futures to the tune of 144 crores and net buyers in Index options to the tune of 975 crores while they were net sellers in both Stock futures and options to the tune of 219 & 48 crores respectively. Nifty future settled at 6007 with 56 points premium to the spot along with a marginal increase in open interest. On the Options side, PCR stood at 1.08, along with a fall in the India VIX by 8.43%. On the Call options side, the 6200 call added the maximum open interest followed by the 6000 call, while there was marginal decrease in open interest from the 5000 to 5900 calls. On the Put options side, the 5600 put added the maximum open interest, followed by the 6000, 5900 & 5700 puts. The activity in the Cash markets was sector specific today, while in the F&O side there was some profit booking on the call option side along with addition of long position on the Call options side and corresponding put writing at higher levels in the market.

On the technical side, Nifty finally made an attempt to break out of the narrow trading range and closed above the immediate resistance of 5942, but the sustainability above this level will depend on the news flow from the domestic as well as the international front. The levels to watch out for Nifty will be, 5964, 5978 & 5993 on the upside and 5906, 5893 on the downside. On the currency front, the Rupee started 2013 on a positive note tracking gains in local shares after U.S. lawmakers agreed on a deal which would help avert the “fiscal cliff” but weak domestic data limited a sharper rise. The partially convertible rupee finally closed at 54.68, while the near month USD-INR future settled at 55.04 for the day.

On the international markets front, it was a holiday for the Asian, European and U.S. markets hence there is no data to update on the equities as well as the commodities markets.