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K.S. Badri Narayanan

THE just-concluded week witnessed hectic activities at the derivative segment on the NSE as the June contracts expired on last Thursday. In fact, on Thursday, the NSE witnessed an all-time-high turnover of about Rs 5,515 crore, indicating that investors switched over to July contracts. The average daily turnover spurted to Rs 4,413 crore during the week (excluding the interest rate futures, which was introduced on last Tuesday) as against the previous week's turnover of Rs 3,593 crore. While the July contracts turned as near-month contracts, September contracts was introduced for trading from last week.

Index futures: Those who were long on June contracts would have seen their position in profits; The June contracts expired at 1116.35 as against the previous week's close of 1096.05.

The July contracts on Nifty ended the week at 1113.50 (1091.50) while open interest zoomed to 13843 contracts from last week's position of 2668 contracts. The Nifty August futures ended the week at 1110.35 (1093) with open interest improving to 313 contracts (103 contracts). The recently-entered September contracts, however, did not evoke much activity. Maintaining the backwardation, all the three month contracts on Nifty ended the week in discount to the underlying Nifty close, which closed at 1125.55.

Stock futures: With the disinvestment story doing the round again in the market, contracts on HPCL were the most sought after. Apart from HPCL, counters such as SBI, Infosys, Satyam, Tata Engg, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries were also actively traded.

The HPCL July contracts ended the week at Rs 354.30 (Rs 336.50); open interest shot up to 4,583 contracts (792 contracts). The June contracts expired at Rs 342.70 (Rs 333.80) after touching a high of Rs 353.50 during the week. The underlying HPCL spot closed at Rs 350.70. Infosys also ended the week on a promising note; The July futures closed at Rs 3,319.35 (Rs 3,053.60) with open interest jumping to 3,046 contracts from last week position of 250 contracts. The June contracts also ended at Rs 3,232.45 (Rs 3,050.25) at expiry.

Index options: With the markets witnessing a steady progress, breaching the 1125-mark, the July 1120, the July 1110 and the July 1100 strikes came into prominence among the calls.

The in-the-money (ITM) July 1120 calls, which were active only on Monday, closed the week at Rs 21.35 as against the Monday's opening of Rs 11.60; Open interest jumped to 930 contracts. The July (also ITM) 1110 calls also closed sharply higher at Rs 25.45 (Rs 14.45) with open interest jumping to 560 contracts (eight contracts).

Among the puts, the July 1090-strike, the July 1100-strike and the July 1110-strike were turned active. The deep out-of-the-money (OTM) July 1090 puts ended the week sharply lower at Rs 14.20 (Rs 25). Open interest improved to 524 contracts from just one contract. The July 1100 puts (also OTM), which came into trading only during the week, also ended sharply lower at Rs 17.45 (Rs 35) with open interest jumping to 339 contracts (11 contracts).

Equity options: Contracts on HPCL, Tata Engg, Tata Steel and State Bank of India turned active during the week. The July 350 and the July 360 strikes on HPCL, the July 200-strike on Tata Engg, the July 150 and the July 160 strikes on Tata Steel and the July 370 strike on SBI were actively traded among call options.

The HPCL 350 calls closed the week at Rs 16.95 (Rs 11.50) and open interest jumped to 580 contracts (78 contracts).

Among the puts, the July 350 and the July 340 strikes on HPCL, the July 200 and the July 190 strikes on Tata Engg, the July 3300 strike on Infosys Technologies and the July 180 & 190 strikes on Satyam witnessed active trading. The Infosys 3300 puts (OTM), which just began trading (on Thursday) ended the week at Rs 170.30 (Rs 208). The Infosys spot closed at Rs 3349.

Note: According to the NSE's directive, derivatives on VSNL will not be available for trading hereafter. The VSNL June contracts witnessed a smart activity and expired sharply higher at Rs 127.40.

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