Nifty futures close at a premium

F&O OUTLOOK

The bulls were in total control towards the day's end, taking the benchmark indices into the green after a weak opening. The upmove is attributed to fresh long positions in banks and capital goods stocks.

The Reliance pack also firmed up further. On the other hand, technology, PSU oil and gas, automobiles and cement remained weak following short selling.

The Nifty January Futures closed at a premium of nine points as against a discount of 10 points on Friday. The open interest increased by four million shares to 39.52 million due to short covering at lower levels. The Nifty target is now 6,314 and 6,350.

The Nifty PCR was unchanged at 1.4, as Put options added 6.62 lakh shares and Call options added 5.29 shares in open interest. Short covering was seen in Call options at the strike price of 6,400, while fresh Call buying was seen at 6,300. The support area remained around 6,100 and 6,200, as indicated by the writing of Put options.

The side counters witnessed a build-up in long positions, with Parsvanath Developers appreciating by 8.7 per cent on a rise in futures open interest by 35 per cent. Similar was the case with Colgate Palmolive, Ballarpur Industries and Bajaj Hindustan.

The underlying trend remains up. The Nifty support levels to watch are 66218 and 6157. The Sensex is expected to be volatile between 20,000 and 21,000. It could target 21,000, having closed above the major resistance zone of 20,700.