 "The Budget for 2024-25 has thrown a spanner in the works for foreign flows in Indian equities. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned aggressive buyers for the first time in calendar year 2024 (CY24) on a monthly basis, but have now resorted t")
Futures & Options (F&O) Insights for Thursday, October 17, 2024: The NSE Nifty 50 index remained in the consolidation range, with the Nifty futures settling at 25,050 levels on Wednesday. The October contract was down 0.3 per cent at close, while the open interest rose by 0.9 per cent.
In the short term, the Nifty is expected to consolidate within the 24,700 - 25,400 range, said Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates.
The F&O data reveals that FIIs are least bullish at this point of time, with more bets on the short side versus long. On the contrary, retail and proprietary traders continue to hold bullish bets.
On Wednesday, the Bank Nifty October futures also ended marginally in red, down 0.2 per cent; while the OI decreased by 1.6 per cent.
Technically, the Bank Nifty formed a shooting star candle. In the short term, Bank Nifty will face resistance near 52,030. If the index sustains above this level, it could attempt to test the higher levels of 52,500 – 52,800, said Hrishikesh Yedve.
Also Read
 "Stock Market, Market, Crash, Funds, up, Stock, Gain, Lost, decline, statistic, Crisis, Capital, BSE, NSE")
 "Stock brokers")
 "Nifty 50")
 "Stock Market, Market, Crash, Funds, up, Stock, Gain, Lost, decline, statistic, Crisis, Capital, BSE, NSE")
 "Nifty Bank NSE")
On the downside, 51,000 offers strong support, where the 100-Days Exponential Moving Average (100-DEMA) is placed. As long as the index holds above 51,000, a 'buy on dips' strategy is advisable, the analyst suggested.
FII, DII, Retail: Who bought and who sold on October 16?
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in index futures for Rs 684.36 crore. FIIs net sold 10,435 contracts of index futures yesterday.
The NSE data shows that FIIs have now been net sellers of Nifty futures in the last 16 out of the 20 trading sessions. On Wednesday, FIIs net sold 8,245 contracts of Nifty futures for a consideration of Rs 515.87 crore. Among others, FIIs net sold 2,010 Bank Nifty contracts and 115 contracts of MidCap Nifty futures on October 16.
The data shows that FIIs open interest (OI) in Nifty futures stands at mere 3.1 lakh contracts as against a peak of 5.73 lakh contracts on September 24. In case of Bank Nifty and MidCap Nifty futures the OI stands at 1.33 lakh contracts and 61,390 contracts, respectively. The overall FIIs OI in index futures now stands at 5.08 lakh contracts as against a high of 7.6 lakh contracts on September 24.
Pursuant to which, the FIIs overall long-short ratio in index futures declined to 0.50 - its lowest point since June 07. The ratio implies that FIIs hold 2 short positions in index futures for every long open trade.
Meanwhile, retail investors' long-short ratio in index futures inched higher to 1.65 - meaning more than 3 long bets in index futures for every 2 short trades.
Proprietary traders increased their bullish bets by 6 basis points, as their long-short ratio rose to 1.49. Proprietary traders now hold 3 long positions in index futures for every 2 bearish bets.
Whereas, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) long-short ratio in index futures eased a wee bit to 0.61.
Key Insights from Nifty, Bank Nifty options data
In the Nifty options market, there's a notable concentration of open interest at the 25,200 / 25,500 Call and 24,500 / 25,000 Put levels. The Nifty Put-Call Ratio (PCR-OI) currently stands at 0.548, reflecting a cautious sentiment, said Sahaj Agarwal, Senior Vice President, Head of Derivatives Research at Kotak Securities in a note.
Given the current scenario, Nifty appears poised for further gains, assuming favourable market conditions persist, the analyst added.
Active trading in the 25,000 - 25,200 Call range and the 24,800 - 24,900 Put range highlights resistance near 25,000 - 25,100 and support between 24,700 - 24,900, said Dhupesh Dhameja, Technical Analyst at SAMCO Securities.
The on-going battle at these levels will likely dictate the Nifty's direction. The max pain level at 25,050 remains a pivotal point for the next move, the analyst highlighted.
In case of Bank Nifty, notable open interest is concentrated at the 51,800 strike calls (93.88 lakh contracts) and 51,800 puts (1.60 crore contracts). Activity around the 51,900 - 52,000 Call range and the 51,600 - 51,700 Put range highlights resistance near 51,900 - 52,000 and support at 51,500 - 51,700, reflecting an increase in bearish sentiment, Dhupesh Dhameja explained.
Enhanced call writing at 51,800 - 52,000 suggests sellers are moving to lower levels, while put unwinding indicates emerging bearish momentum. The put-call ratio (PCR) increased to 0.97 from 0.89, signalling a slight bearish tilt as call writers gain the upper hand. The max pain level at 51,800 serves as a crucial pivot point.
Bullish & Bearish stocks
Among individual F&O stocks, HDFC AMC, Godrej Properties and Deepak Nitrite saw buying interest on Wednesday. On the other hand, ICICI General Insurance and CoForge witnessed notable short build-up as the OI at these counters increased by nearly 11 per cent each while the stocks dipped 1.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively. Trent, Hero MotoCorp and Jindal Steel also experienced selling bias.
Stocks in F&O ban period on Thursday, October 17
A total of 14 stocks are placed under the futures & options ban period today. Bandhan Bank, Chambal Fertilisers, GNFC, Granules India, Hindustan Copper, IDFC First Bank, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), L&T Finance, Manappuram Finance, National Aluminium, PNB, RBL Bank, SAIL and Tata Chemicals.
 "Stock Market, BSE, NSE, Nifty, Capital, Market")
 "bse, stock market, markets")
 "India china, India, China")
 "dividend stock")
 "sebi market")
