Nifty July Futures Unwind

Derivatives markets continued their downward journey as the cash markets were hit on fears that the erratic monsoon could impact economic growth. The Nifty July futures closed 2.14 points lower at 1037 as against S&P CNX Nifty at 1032.55, down 3.40 points.

However, all the three futures ended at a substantial premium to the underlying with August Nifty futures closing at 1042.90 and September contract at 1048.

Open interest in the near month futures declined marginally at 5472 contracts while those in the August futures rose 28 per cent at 1267 contracts implying that there is some shifting of positions. Nifty futures generated volume of Rs 128.17 crore from 6198 contracts.

Index Options Nifty options traded 1255 contracts at a notional value of Rs 26.58 crore. The put/call ratio declined marginally to 0.60 compared with 0.63 previously.

The highest volumes with 188 contracts was in the Nifty July call at 1040. Open interest in this contract rose 30 per cent. Other calls to generate interest were the July calls at 1030, 1060 and 1050. Among puts the Nifty July put at 1040 logged the highest volumes.

Among stock futures and options, software stocks generated a lot of interest in the cash segment and were among the top traded in stock futures. The total number of contracts traded was 31361 at a value of Rs 827.17 crore.

Satyam was the most active futures contract, however, it ended at a discount. Among other software counters, Infosys ended at a premium while Digital closed at a marginal discount. The markets still seem to be playing it cautiously with software stocks. Among the other top traded stocks, Reliance and BPCL ended at a premium.

In stock options, 9733 contracts were traded with a notional value of Rs 268.06 crore. The top twenty contracts contributed around 52 per cent of the total traded volume. Satyam was the most traded counter.

The put/call ratio in Satyam rose to 0.74 from 0.62 previously but declined in Infosys from 0.89 to 0.56. This, and the premium close in the futures markets could point to a revival in the stock. Reliance was the other top traded stock. Its put/call ratio was ranged.