MUMBAI, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The premium on the benchmark index futures
remainded steady in a session that saw active short covering in select
counters, traders and analysts said on Monday.
They said rollover of derivatives contracts gained momentum with over
45 percent of the positions being carried forward to the next month.
The derivatives expiry for the current month will be on Thursday.
"It was mainly short covering that drove the stock prices after the
rise of U.S. markets on Friday," said Sailav Kaji, head derivatives at PINC
Research.
He said market players had expected the market to fall this week, but
the overall positive sentiment in international markets forced traders to
cover their short positions.
The premium on the Nifty December futures <NIFc1> to the 50-share NSE
index eased a bit to 22.05 points, compared to 23 points on Thursday.
The Nifty December futures rose 3.76 percent to 6,007.15 points while
the spot index jumped 3.79 percent to 5,985.10 points.
Traders said some stocks witnessed short covering, including Reliance
Industries <RELI.NS>, Suzlon Energy Ltd <SUZL.NS>, Bharti Airtel <BRTI.NS>,
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd <VSNL.NS>.
They said fresh long positions in the January futures were seen in
software services firms like Infosys Technologies <INFY.NS>, Tata
Consultancy Services <TCS.NS> and Satyam Computer Services <SATY.NS>.
Kaji said if the U.S. and other international markets remained firm,
further short covering could be seen on Wednesday.
Indian markets are closed on Tuesday for Christmas.
TOP FIVE CONTRACTS BASED ON OPEN INTEREST
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COMPANY NAME RICs OPEN INT.
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Rel. Nat. Resources Ltd. <RENRnsc1> 67631850
Reliance Petroleum Ltd <RPETnsc1> 60531150
Power Grid Corporation of India <PGRDnsc1> 51651600
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd <TTMLnsc1> 46053150
IFCI Ltd <IFCInsc1> 42635250
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TOP %AGE INCREASE IN OPEN INTEREST
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COMPANY NAME RICs CHG. %
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Amtek Auto <AMTKnsc2> 2460.00%
Bombay Rayon Fashions <BRFLnsc2> 1722.50%
AIA Engineering <AIAEnsc2> 661.54%
New Delhi Televisions <NDTVnsc2> 590.67%
Omaxe <OMAXnsc2> 330.31%
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TOP %AGE DECREASE IN OPEN INTEREST
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COMPANY NAME RICs CHG. %
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CNX Nifty Junior <CNJc1> 59.47%
Bombay Rayon Fashions Ltd <BRFLnsc1> 51.70%
Amtek Auto Ltd <AMTKnsc1> 48.96%
Omaxe Ltd. <OMAXnsc1> 46.00%
New Delhi Television Ltd <NDTVnsc1> 45.00%
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(Reporting by Virendra Verma; editing by Sunil Nair))
(([email protected]; +91-22-6636 9299; Reuters Messaging:
[email protected]))
Keywords: MARKETS INDIA DERIVATIVES/