Derivatives: Lose Ground

The derivatives market erased gains as the cash markets snapped a five-day rally with technology stocks succumbing to Nasdaq's weakness and selective profit-booking pared recent gains. Nifty July futures dipped by 5.95 points at 1072.45 as against a loss of 8.60 points in the S&P CNX Nifty at 1071.70.

In the futures segment, volumes surged in the July and August contracts at 3,456 and 104 contracts, respectively. The August and September contracts closed at a premium. Open-interests nudged up marginally in both the July and August futures at 6,152 and 398 contracts, respectively.

Among Index Options, puts were actively traded in a weak market pushing the put call ratio higher to 0.47. The highest volumes were in the Nifty July call at 1060, which traded 152 contracts.

Other call options in demand were the Nifty July call at 1,070, 1,100 and 1,080. Among put options, the highest volumes were in the July put at 1080, 1070 and 1100.

Among stock futures and options, Satyam Computer, Infosys and Ranbaxy were among the most active futures.

Ranbaxy gained volumes after the company said that the board would consider a bonus issue. M&M, Ranbaxy and Tata Engineering were the top gainers.

Though Satyam gained in the futures segment, it continued to trade at a discount to the underlying. In the options, too, Satyam dominated the trading occupying the top three slots. Its July call at 260 was the most traded stock option. Grasim call at 300 and Tisco call at 130 were the top premium gainers.