June futures discounted

DERIVATIVES REPORT

Nifty June 2004 futures ended at 1,469.45 on Monday, a 11.90-point discount to the spot Nifty closing of 1,481.35. The discount on Friday was 17.75 points.

The last few trading sessions have seen Nifty futures trading at a discount to the spot price. The open interest in Nifty June futures declined to 1.12 crore, from Friday's 1.20 crore.

In Nifty options, the put-call ratio declined, as put options shed 1.3 lakh shares in open interest for the second consecutive session. Call options saw an addition of one lakh shares in open positions. While volumes on NSE's derivative segment on Monday stood at Rs 6,772 crore.

Most of the individual stock futures ended either at par or at a discount to their spot prices. Tata Power proved an exception. Tata Power's June futures ended at Rs 222.10, at a slight premium to the spot closing of Rs 221.80.

Open interest in June futures of Tisco, State Bank of India, Tata Motors, Infosys Technologies and Tata Power declined on Monday. On the other hand, open interest rose in June futures of Reliance Industries, Satyam Computer and Maruti Udyog.

There was significant addition of shares in futures of several counters. Satyam added seven lakh shares. GAIL added four lakh shares, Maruti added three lakh shares in open interest. But these stocks closed lower, which indicates that weakness is likely to persist in these counters.

On the other hand, Arvind Mills and Tisco shed five lakh shares each while Tata Power and Reliance Industries shed three lakh shares each in futures. Meanwhile, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2.2 crore on Friday.