Nifty April futures, which closed at a premium, witnessed short-covering by bear operators during the intraday trade and fresh long positions of 1.05 million shares by bulls at close. For more upside, the market is expected to get support from ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI), which witnessed a fresh long build-up even at higher levels.
Friday’s trading in Nifty futures and options (F&O) suggests that the index could move up further and is likely to cross the 3,200-mark next week.
The April futures, which had traded at a premium of 5-8 points for a major part of the day, finally closed with a 16-point premium to the spot, confirming the bullish undercurrents. According to Bloomberg data, about 50 per cent of trades on the buy side had taken place at an average level of 3,118.
Profit-booking and short-covering were seen in the post-morning session with 21 per cent of trades – mostly sell orders – changing hands at an average index level of 3,080. Significant open interest (OI) build-up through buy orders was seen at 3,000-3,200 strike call options and 3,000-3,100 strike put options. The 3,100 call added an OI of 561,450 shares, while the 3,200 call added an OI of 708,800 shares.
