Rollovers low as investors turn cautious

Bank Nifty futures saw a rollover of 71%, slightly higher than the three-month average of 69%

Traders rolled over fewer bets into the October series, as nervousness in the market continued on account of a weak rupee and the US Federal Reserve hinting at a rate hike in December.

Nifty rollovers for October stood at 63 per cent, slightly above the previous three-month average but much lower than the average of 75 per cent clocked in the first three months of the year. There was a significant decline in open interest in the Nifty Futures from the foreign institutional investors (FII) side, said experts.

"We see lesser open interest being rolled over, which suggests market participants are disinterested in the market. A decline in open interest, especially from the FII side, is not a good sign and investors should be wary of taking positions in the market on the long side," said Siddarth Bhamre, head- derivatives, Angel Broking.

According to Jayant Manglik, president - retail distribution, Religare Securities, negative sentiment was still dominant. "We were expecting a pause or some rebound from the support level at first but today's fall in index clearly shows that negative forces are dominant at present. So traders can now wait for some technical rebound or consolidation and then initiate fresh shorts positions," he said. "Selling into rallies is currently the recommended strategy. Traders should focus more on the stock selection and money management in the prevailing market scenario and rest will fall in place on its own."

Bank Nifty futures saw a rollover of 71 per cent, slightly higher than the three-month average of 69 per cent. "Bank Nifty open interest is on the short side indicating market participants are now taking the asset quality of private sector banks seriously," said Bhamre.

Market experts said the Nifty faced resistance at 8,300-8,400 levels and had support at 7,850 levels. On Thursday, the 50-share Nifty slid 59 points or 0.73 per cent to 8,111.