Top 15 things to know before the opening bell

The equity benchmark ended marginally lower on February 10 as metal, FMCG, technology and oil & gas stocks came under pressure, while banking & financial services and auto names provided support.

The Sensex closed 123 points down at 60,683 and the Nifty ended 37 points lower at 17,856 and formed a Doji pattern on the daily charts, indicating indecision among buyers and sellers.

But it defended the crucial support of 17,800 for the third straight session. If the index holds the level, it can reclaim the psychologically vital 18,000 mark and then 18,200 in the coming sessions.

“A small range candle was formed on the daily chart with minor upper and lower shadow. Technically, this pattern indicates the formation of Doji type candle pattern. But, having formed this pattern amidst a range movement, the predictive value of this Doji could be less,” Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities said.

The broader markets performed better than the benchmarks. The Nifty midcap 100 and smallcap 100 indices gained 0.24 percent and 0.54 percent.

Volatility cooled down further, giving support to the bulls. India VIX, which indicates expected volatility in the market over the next 30 days, was down 2.26 percent at 12.75.

We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades:

Note: The open interest (OI) and volume data of stocks in this article are the aggregates of three-month data and not just the current month.

Key support and resistance levels on the Nifty

As per the pivot charts, the Nifty has support at 17,816 followed by 17,798 and then 17,769. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,874 followed by 17,892 and 17,921.

Nifty Bank

The Nifty Bank ended five points higher at gains at 41,559 on February 10. The index formed a small-bodied bullish candle on the daily charts.

“The Bank Nifty index on the daily chart continued to consolidate between the 41,200-41,800 zone. The undertone remains bullish as long as the index holds the support of 41,200 and one should keep a buy-on-dip approach,” Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities, said.

If the index breaks 41,800 on the upside, it can see a sharp short covering on the upside towards 43,000, he said

The important pivot level, which will act as a support, is at 41,457 followed by 41,397 and 41,300. On the upside, key resistance levels 41,651, 41,711, and 41,808.

Call option data

On a weekly basis, the maximum Call open interest (OI) is at 18,000 strike, with 64.85 lakh contracts, which may be a crucial resistance in the coming sessions.

This is followed by 18,500 strike, comprising 48.76 lakh contracts, and 18,200 strike, where there are more than 46.99 lakh contracts.

Call writing was seen at 17,800 strike, which added 27.04 lakh contracts, followed by 18,000 strike, which added 21 lakh contracts, and 17,900 strike, which added 19.86 lakh contracts.

We have seen Call unwinding in 18,700 strike, which shed 4.21 lakh contracts, followed by 18,600 strike, which shed 2.4 lakh contracts.

Put option data

On a weekly basis, the maximum Put OI is at 17,800 strike, with 65.26 lakh contracts, which can be a crucial support level for coming sessions.

This is followed by the 17,000 strike, comprising 35.08 lakh contracts, and the 17,500 strike, where we have 33.66 lakh contracts.

Put writing was seen at 17,800 strike, which added 36.29 lakh contracts, followed by 17,400 strike, which added 13.85 lakh contracts, and 17,300 strike which added 12.65 lakh contracts.

Put unwinding was seen at 17,100 strike, which shed 2.69 lakh contracts, followed by 16,700 strike, which shed 1.08 lakh contracts, and 16,900 strike, which shed 35,250 contracts.

Stocks with high delivery percentage

A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in these stocks. The highest delivery was seen in Power Grid Corporation of India, United Spirits, Hindustan Unilever, SBI Life Insurance Company and Havells India, among others.

34 stocks see a long build-up

An increase in open interest (OI) and an increase in price mostly indicate a build-up of long positions. Based on the OI percentage, 34 stocks, including Alkem Laboratories, Voltas, ABB India, Dixon Technologies, and Delta Corp, saw a long build-up.

46 stocks see long unwinding

A decline in OI and a decrease in price mostly indicate long unwinding. Based on the OI percentage, 46, including Hindustan Aeronautics, Trent, Bajaj Finance, Jindal Steel & Power, and M&M Financial Services, stocks saw long unwinding.

53 stocks see a short build-up

An increase in OI accompanied by a decrease in price mostly indicates a build-up of short positions. Based on the OI percentage, 53 stocks, including Abbott India, United Breweries, Astral, Lupin, and Shriram Transport Finance, saw long unwinding.

59 stocks see short-covering

A decrease in OI along with an increase in price is an indication of short-covering. Based on the OI percentage, 59 stocks were on the short-covering list. These include Indus Towers, Navin Fluorine International, Hero MotoCorp, JK Cement, and HDFC Life Insurance Company.

Bulk Deals

One 97 Communications: Alibaba.com Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited sold 2.14 crore equity shares in Paytm via open market transactions at an average price of Rs 642.74 a share. With this, Alibaba has exited the Paytm parent as it had sold 1.92 crore shares in January 2023.

(For more bulk deals, click here)

Results on February 13

FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa), Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Power Finance Corporation, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, Shree Renuka Sugars, SAIL, Wockhardt, Ahluwalia Contracts, Allcargo Logistics, Bajaj Healthcare, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, BF Utilities, BGR Energy Systems, Campus Activewear, Castrol India, Godrej Industries, Greenply Industries, Grindwell Norton, GR Infraprojects, Gujarat State Petronet, Gujarat Gas, GVK Power & Infrastructure, HeidelbergCement India, Hinduja Global Solutions, Hindustan Oil Exploration, Hindware Home Innovation, HUDCO, ICRA, IFCI, Insecticides (India), IRB Infrastructure Developers, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, ISGEC Heavy Engineering, ITI, IVRCL, Krsnaa Diagnostics, Landmark Cars, Liberty Shoes, Linde India, Lumax Auto Technologies, Mcnally Bharat Engineering, MMTC, The New India Assurance Company, NLC India, Schneider Electric Infrastructure, Shalimar Paints, Texmo Pipes & Products, and Zuari Industries will be in focus ahead of quarterly earnings on February 13.

Stocks in the news

Kotak Mahindra Bank: The private sector lender has entered into share purchase agreements with the shareholders of Sonata Finance, a non-banking finance company, to acquire 2.64 crore equity shares for Rs 537 crore. The acquisition is expected to be completed by first half of FY24.

BEML: The railway transportation company has received an order to supply of 118 units of track width mine plough (TWMP) for Arjun MBT MK-1A from HVF, Avadi. The contract value is Rs 377.98 crore and the supply of TWMP is expected to be completed by January 2026.

Adani Green Energy: Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the ratings on eight Adani Group companies, including Adani Green Energy. Moody’s has changed the outlook of four Adani Group companies—Adani Green Energy, Adani Green Energy Restricted Group, Adani Transmission Step-One, and Adani Electricity Mumbai—to “negative” from “stable”. It maintained a “stable” outlook for ffour others—Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani International Container Terminal, Adani Green Energy Restricted Group-2, and Adani Transmission Restricted Group 1.

ABB India: The technology leader in electrification and automation has clocked a 58 percent year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 305.91 crore for the December quarter, driven by healthy operating performance, beating analysts’ estimates.

Revenue for the quarter at Rs 2,427 crore grew by 15.5 percent from the year-ago period. On the operating front, EBITDA surged 97 percent YoY to Rs 364.3 crore, with a margin expansion of 620 bps YoY to 15 percent. ABB India received orders worth Rs 2,335 crore for Q4 CY2022, growing 4 percent YoY.

PB Fintech: The Policybazaar operator posted a consolidated loss of Rs 87.3 crore in the December quarter, significantly lower from Rs 298 crore in the same period of the previous year. Consolidated revenue was up 66.1 percent YoY at Rs 610 crore. Other income jumped 105.3 percent YoY to Rs 68.9 crore in the third quarter of the financial year 2022-23.

Delhivery: The logistics services provider posted a consolidated loss of Rs 195.65 crore in the December quarter, widening from a loss of Rs 126.5 crore in the year-ago period. EBITDA loss for the quarter stood at Rs 73.3 crore against a profit of Rs 54.2 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. Consolidated revenue at Rs 1,823.8 crore was down 8.6 percent from the third quarter of the previous year.

Oil India: The state-owned oil company reported a standalone profit of Rs 1,746 crore in the December quarter, up by 1.5 percent QoQ impacted by lower other income (down 89 percent QoQ). Revenue at Rs 5,376.2 crore was up 15.8 percent. On the operating front, EBITDA surged 54.5 percent sequentially to Rs 2,855 crore with a margin expansion of 1,330 bps to 53.1 percent. The company also announced an interim dividend of Rs 10 a share.

Fund Flow

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FII) net bought shares worth Rs 1,458.02 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) offloaded shares worth Rs 291.34 crore on February 10, NSE’s provisional data showed.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

The National Stock Exchange has retained Ambuja Cements and Indiabulls Housing Finance on its F&O ban list for February 13. Securities banned under the F&O segment include companies where derivative contracts have crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

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