Nifty to see a steady opening today

The Nifty closed in a Doji pattern on account of profit-booking above 5,395, indicating resistance at higher levels. Among index stocks, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Tata Motors and Unitech, too, closed in a Doji pattern.

The intraday pattern in the Nifty July futures indicates a change of hands as the futures shed 13,200 shares in open interest (OI) despite a trading volume of 16.78 million shares. According to Bloomberg data, trade-offs took place in the value areas (5,382-5,504) and profit-booking above those levels.

The poor volume in the last couple of sessions indicates a lack of interest at higher levels. The Nifty futures also closed at a discount to spot, which shows some profit-booking from bull operators. Volume-driven support is seen at 5,357, while resistance on the basis of time-price opportunity (TPO) data is at 5,416. The Dow Jones and European markets opened on a steady note and remained in the green by close of trade, indicating a steady opening for the Indian markets on Tuesday.

The trading pattern in the Nifty options showed profit-booking and a change of hands in the 5,400-strike call and buy-side trades in the 5,500-strike call. Participants booked profit in the 5,200-strike put and added 809,050 shares in OI in the 5,300-strike put through sell-side trades.

This indicates the Nifty may face strong resistance above 5,400, but may not move below 5,300 in the near future. Support – based on OI positions in the puts – is at 5,300, while resistance is at 5,500. Among stocks futures, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) moved up by a per cent on a strong 72 per cent volume of trades being struck above Rs 1,880. The July futures of infrastructure major closed at Rs 1,886 and added 169,000 shares in OI, mostly through buy-side trades. TPO data suggests a price target of Rs 1,910, with a volume-based upside at Rs 1,915.