Open interest in ONGC futures surges

DERIVATIVES REPORT

Most individual stock futures ended at a slight premium to their spot prices. Open interest rose sharply in ONGC April 2004 futures whereas open interest in Reliance Industries (RIL) April futures declined substantially. Open interest in ONGC April futures surged to 53.48 lakh shares from Thursday's 47.04 lakh.

ONGC April futures ended at a slight premium to its spot price. On Thursday, ONGC futures had ended at a discount to the spot. ONGC April futures ended at Rs 861.50 compared with its spot closing of Rs 858.

Nifty April 2004 futures continued to trade at a discount to the spot. Nifty April 2004 futures ended at 1,835 compared with spot Nifty closing of 1,841.10.

In the spot market, Nifty surged 21.45 points or 1.1 per cent on Friday to 1,841.10. Turnover on Nifty April 2004 futures rose to Rs 4,438.14 crore from Thursday's Rs 3,819.79 crore. Open interest in Nifty April futures declined slightly to 76.06 lakh contracts from 77.60 lakh contracts earlier.

Meanwhile, the volumes in the futures and options (F&O) segment rose. In a volatile market on Friday. The overall volumes on NSE's F&O segment rose to Rs 12,388 crore from Thursday's Rs 10,358 crore.