Derivatives volume slips

DERIVATIVES REPORT

Volumes in the derivatives segment went down marginally with the turnover at Rs 7,439 crore from 2.73 lakh contracts being traded. Stock futures saw a turnover of Rs 3,902.54 crore, while turnover of index futures was to the tune of Rs 2,852 crore.

Dealers said that though there was a decrease in the volumes, Nifty futures saw an increase in open interest ahead of the Budget. Open interest in Nifty futures went up to 90.88 lakh shares from its previous day's position of 83.54 lakh shares. Open interest in Nifty near month futures has been steadily rising in the last three days.

Meanwhile, Nifty July futures still continued to be traded at a discount to the spot price.

The near month futures ended at 1,487.20, a discount of 18.40 points to the spot Nifty, which closed at 1,505.60.

In the futures segment, the most active contracts in terms of turnover were those of Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, State Bank of India and Satyam Computer.

In the options segment, among the most active contracts were Tata Steel calls at strikes of 300 and 310, Reliance call at Rs 440, Satyam calls at strike price of 310 and 320, among others.