F&O Insights: Check FIIs, retail traders bets on Nifty ahead of Aug expiry

Derivative market update for Monday, Aug 26: FIIs and retail traders index futures long-short ratio stands at 1.1:1; indicating more than 1 long bet for every short trade; 13 stocks in F&O ban today.

The Nifty futures gained 1 per cent in the last 4 trading sessions, while the open interest (OI) dipped by 0.4 per cent in the August series, and rose by 47.2 per cent in the September series.

The premium in Nifty August futures rose to 31 points on Friday. Trading volumes were below average for the fifth straight day, with around 1.42 lakh contracts traded on August 23 as against the last 7-day average volume of around 1.80 lakh contracts per day. The September futures are seen quoting at 142-point premium to the spot Nifty.

Meanwhile, the Bank Nifty August futures too ended 1 per cent higher on August 23, while the OI dropped by 20 per cent. At the same time, OI jumped by 12.5 per cent in the September series.

FII, DII trading activity in F&O - Here's all you need to know about who bought and who sold on August 23?

As per data from the NSE, FIIs net bought 748 contracts of index futures on August 23 for a consideration of Rs 92.33 crore. FIIs net sold 5 contracts of Nifty futures, while bought 3,127 contracts of Bank Nifty futures and 345 contracts of MidCap Nifty futures.

Pursuant to which, FIIs long-short ratio in index futures rose remained unchanged at 1.1:1 – this ratio implies that foreign investors hold more than 1 long position in index futures for every single bet on the short side of trade. The FIIs longs in index futures now stand at 52.30 per cent.

Data shows that FIIs reduced positions in Nifty futures, while added fresh positions in Bank Nifty futures and MidCap Nifty futures.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continue to hold near about 2 short positions for every long open position in index futures. DIIs index futures long-short ratio stands at 0.55:1; with net longs at 35.36 per cent.

Retail traders long-short ratio remained steady around 1.1:1, with marginal increase seen both in the long and short positions. Retail traders net long in index futures stand at 52.43 per cent.

Stocks in F&O ban period

A total of 13 out of the 181 stocks in the futures & options segment are placed in the F&O ban period on Monday. 

Aarti Industries, Aditya Birla Fashion Retail, Balrampur Chini, Birlasoft, Chambal Fertilisers, GNFC, Granules India, Hindustan Copper, Indian Energy Exchange, India Cements, National Aluminium, RBL Bank and Sun TV are the 13 stocks in F&O ban today.

Traders are not allowed to take new positions in stocks placed under the F&O ban. Traders are permitted to only exit existing open positions. In case, any new position is opened during the ban period, exchange levies a penalty on every such trade. As and when the open interest in the stock falls below 80 per cent of the market wide limit, the stock shall be removed from the ban period.