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K.S. Badri Narayanan

THE average turnover at the derivative segment on the NSE were slightly higher during the last week at Rs 2,525 crore as compared with the previous week's average turnover of about Rs 2,241 crore (which had only three traded days).

The July month contracts, which were activated for trading from Friday, however, hardly evoked any trading activity.

Index futures: As April Nifty futures expired last week, interest shifted to the near-month contract i.e. May futures. However, there was no trading activity in the farther month July futures, indicating investors' lacklustre interest, as they were unable to judge the market direction.

Both May and the June futures ended the week in premium to the spot Nifty close of 924.30; the May futures closed at 929.15 and the June futures at 931.55. Open interest witnessed a steady build-up in May futures during the week by recording a whopping jump of over 400 per cent 16,440 contracts as against previous weekend position of 3,246 contracts. The June futures also witnessed a sharp jump in open interest to 1084 contracts (229 contracts).

Index options: Among the calls, the May 930, the May 940 and the May 950 contracts were the most active. The May 930 puts on Nifty was the most active along with the May 920 and the May 940 contracts.

The May 930 calls closed the week lower at Rs 15.85 with open interest improving to 527 contracts. The call closed the week as out-of-the-money (OTM). The 940 calls (OTM) also closed lower at Rs 11.75 and open interest jumped to 725 contracts.

The 930 puts ended the week in-the-money (ITM) and on firm note at Rs 16.60 and open interest improved to 379 contracts. The May 920 puts on Nifty closed the week on higher note at Rs 12.40 with open interest improving to 229 contracts. The contract, however, ended the week in OTM.

Stock futures: The May contracts were the most active. Among them, Satyam Computer, HPCL, Infosys, Reliance and Wipro were the most actively traded contracts. Among the June contracts, Tata Steel, HPCL, Hindustan Lever, Reliance and Satyam evinced interest.

The Satyam May futures ended the week sharply higher at Rs 162.45 as against last week close of Rs 144.35. Open interest witnessed a steady increase through out the week to 3,984 contracts (531 contracts last week). The underlying equity closed at Rs 163.15.

Following the disinvestments controversy in Parliament, the HPCL contracts (both May & June) witnessed a sharp spurt in trading activity. The May futures ended at Rs 272.85 (Rs 297.55) and the June contracts at Rs 289.55 (Rs 299.60). The underlying HPCL stock closed at Rs 271.15 (Rs 294.95). Open interest also improved sharply in HPCL contracts.

Equity options: The May 280 calls and the 300 calls on HPCL were the most active among calls options. The May 160 calls on Satyam, the May 280 calls on Reliance, the May 280 calls on SBI and the May 2800 calls on Infosys were also actively traded. Among puts, the May 280 and the May 260 puts on HPCL were the most actively traded. The May 150 puts on Satyam, the May 280 puts on SBI and the May 260 puts on Reliance also witnessed keen trading.

The May 280 calls on Reliance closed lower at Rs 4.15 (Rs 6.85) and open interest improved to 1831 contracts. The Reliance 280 calls closed the week in OTM.

The May 280 puts on SBI ended on firm note at Rs 7.45 with open interest improving to 391 contracts. The 280 puts ended the week in ITM.

Put/call ratio: The open interest put-call ratio (PCR) was higher in HCL Technologies, Polaris Software and Digital Equipment indicating oversold position. The PCR was lower on ACC, Tata Steel and Dr. Reddy's indicating overbought position.

Note: The NSE has removed VSNL from derivative trading list. Subsequently, only the May and the June contract will be available for trading in VSNL.

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