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Chennai, Jan. 29 Nifty February future saw a healthy rollover of 51 per cent at the close of Tuesday’s trading. While Nifty February future ended in deep discount at 5261 against the spot close of 5280.8, the Nifty January future closed at 5278.15. Nifty Jan future saw a drop of about 15 per cent in open interest positions, while Nifty February future added about 40 per cent in open interest positions.

Turnover also picked, albeit marginally to Rs 56,019 crore. In fact, for the first time in five days, the turnover crossed the Rs 50,000-crore mark.

Among the options, 5500-call and 5000-put remained active for February series. This indicates that the market might swing between 5500-5000 in medium-term.

The bank future was the worst affected among index futures. While Bank Nifty Jan future slipped 3.45 per cent, the February future slumped 3.82 per cent. Rollover was low at 12 per cent indicating lack of interest in banking stocks following the Credit Policy, which announced status quo in interest rates.

Reliance Energy was the most active counters followed by RNRL, Reliance Industries, Essar Oil and Reliance Capital.

Essar Oil maintained its bull momentum. The Essar Oil January future gained about four per cent and saw a decline of 22 per cent in open interest positions. The Essar Oil February future gained 3.8 per cent at Rs 247.45 and added 120 per cent in open interest positions. The Essar Oil closed at Rs 245.30 at the spot market.

Overseas investors were net buyers marginally to the tune of Rs 14 crore in the derivative segment on the NSE on January 28. However, they were net sellers of about Rs 557 crore on index futures, which was made up by their net purchases in stock futures (Rs 488 crore) and index options (Rs 84 crore).

Rajesh Exports continued to be under trading ban in the F&O segment as the open interest positions crossed the 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit.

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