Nifty Advances To Reclaim 8,250 But FIIs Remain Subdued

Indian equity markets advanced further on Tuesday with the Nifty 50 index gaining 0.6 percent to close at 8,289. There was little change in the index’s January futures open interest. The Nifty Bank Index moved up 0.7 percent with its futures adding 3.8 percent in open interest indicating fresh buying. Foreign institutional investors sold index futures worth Rs 204 crore on a net basis.

The India Volatility Index retreated 1.8 percent to close at 15.19 indicating contraction in option premiums. Considering the gains in the Nifty, there was further writing witnessed in the 8,200 put and 8,100 puts. Maximum open interest remained with the 8,000 put and 8,400 call to broadly indicate a near-term range for the Nifty. FIIs bought 3,658 index call contracts and 4,545 index put contracts on a net basis.

Petronet LNG was one of the most active stock futures on Tuesday. The stock declined 3.2 percent and saw an increase of nearly 21 percent in open interest indicating fresh selling. Biocon witnessed unwinding of long positions with a drop of 1.3 percent in its share price and fall of nearly 6 percent in its open interest.