August Nifty Droops

The derivatives markets ended a volatile day with losses largely led by a fall in technology shares in the cash mart.

Nifty August futures finished lower by 15.30 points at 960, at a slight premium to the underlying share.

The September and October futures contracts finished at 965.10 and 968.65 points. Volumes were, however, on the lower side in the August contract at 5901 and open interest at 9750. The September contract witnessed a small rise in trades at 315 contracts and open interest of 335.

While the Bombay Stock Exchange sensex shed 39.15 points, August sensex futures closed 45 points lower at 3020 points, at a premium to cash.

In the index options the put call ratio nudged up marginally to 0.31 (previous 0.28). The most traded call options were at strikes 980, 1000 and 1040. Nifty put option at 980 was also actively traded.

The concentration of high open interest at OTM call options is indicative of the fact that marketmen are still hoping for a short-term revival.

Among the stock futures, Satyam Computer, Infosys and Reliance were the top traded scrips. In stocks options, Satyam, Tata Engineering and BPCL were the top traded options. Satyam call at 220 was active. Tata Engineering call at 130 was also active.