Futures trade in tandem with spot

DERIVATIVES REPORT

Nifty futures traded near the underlying spot index for a major portion of the day, but settled at a marginal premium on continuous buying. Open interest in futures increased by two lakh shares.

February Nifty futures rose 48.65 points to close at 1,883.15 while the NSE S&P CNX Nifty settled at 1,880.70.

While the implied volatility in call options fell to around 26 per cent, the volatility in put options remained at 32 per cent.

However, the turnover on National Stock Exchange's derivatives was marginally lower at Rs 12,048.93 crore compared with Rs 12,359.40 crore on Friday.

While the cumulative FII positions as percentage of total gross market position in the derivative segment as on Friday stood at 23.27 per cent.

Meanwhile, the most active stock contracts were Reliance Industries, Tisco, SBI, Satyam and Maruti. Bank stocks were positive. The changes in open interest exhibited a mixed trend.

Canara Bank added three lakh shares and SBI added 1.5 lakh shares in open positions. On the other hand, ICICI Bank shed two lakh shares in open interest.

Tech stocks witnessed a marginal reduction in open interest in futures. Satyam shed one lakh shares in futures.

Power stocks were in the limelight, but only Tata Power added two lakh shares in futures in open positions.

Other power counters did not witness any major changes. Larsen & Toubro added two lakh shares in open interest today. The auto sector witnessed major addition in open positions.

Mahindra & Mahindra added six lakh shares, Maruti added 1.5 lakh shares and Tata Motors added three lakh shares in open positions.

Tisco also added three lakh shares in open interest. The undertone in the market is positive. Hence, investors may consider buying out-of-the-money call options in select positive stocks.