Domestic markets ended the Futures & Options weekly expiry in the red Yesterday as investors continued to witness heightened volatility. S&P BSE Sensex slipped 104 points or 0.18% to settle at 57,892 while the broader NSE Nifty 50 index shed 17.6 points or 0.10% and closed at 17,304. Entering the final trading day of the week, SGX Nifty was down in the red hinting at continued weakness on Dalal Street. Global cues were negative. Domestic markets are believed to be plagued by state elections and the anticipated interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
What do the charts say: “Currently, the market is witnessing non-directional activity near the 50-day SMA. Perhaps, traders are waiting for either side to breakout,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities. Meanwhile, Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities believes the patterns suggest high volatility in the market around 17500 levels.
Levels to watch out for today: Shrikant Chouhan said that 17450 will be the intraday breakout level, above the same, the index could rally till 17500-17575. “On the flip side, trading below 17200 could trigger further weakness up to 17140-17110,” he added. Holding similar views, Rahul Sharma, Director & Head – Research, JM Financial said that Nifty breakout is placed at 17450 and breakdown is placed at 17240. He finds support at 17100 and 16950.
Global Watch: Global markets are on the edge of their seats with Russian troops sitting on the Ukrainian Broder. Earlier yesterday Joe Biden said that there is a “very high” risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and that could happen within “several days.” NASDAQ, Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nikkei 225, TOPIX, KOSPI, and Hang Seng were in the red. KOSDAQ and Shanghai Composite were up with marginal gains.
FII and DII data: On Thursday Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) pulled out Rs 1,242 crore from domestic markets. Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) were net buyers, pumping in Rs 901 crore. For four consecutive sessions, FIIs have been sellers while DIIs have been buying equities.
Call and Put OI: For the monthly F&O series maximum call OI is placed at 18000 strike with 49.5 lakh contracts. This is followed by 17500 strike with 37.8 lakh contracts. Put OI is the most at 17000 strike with 46.7 lakh contacts, followed by 40 lakh contracts at 16500 strike.