A good start to equities in 2012 reflecting in an 11 % plus gain for the Sensex has seen the January series roll-over for Nifty futures at 74%. This is the highest level since October and significantly higher than its three-month average of 68.5%. Such a strong a roll-over with a positive bias, say market watchers, could keep the market momentum alive for a while pushing the Nifty towards 5250-5300 levels.
The more active sectors have been the banking and sugar space while stocks like Hindalco and Sterlite have seen shorts being rolled over to the next series. Axis Bank, Central Bank, South Indian Bank and Canara Bank were among the stocks that had strong long roll-overs of the January positions.
Large cap stocks like L & T (78%) and Reliance Industries (80%) experienced a mix of long and short positions being rolled over, while sell positions were rolled-over for the BHEL stock.
According to Siddarth Bhamre, derivatives head, Angel Broking, ? The unwinding of short positions in stocks like SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI and Tata Steel fuelled the rally in last couple of days.? Bhamre pointed out that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have rolled over positions on the buy side and as such the February series may see the buying continue.
?Given the underlying momentum in options positions the Nifty could stretch its gains to 5,200-5,300 levels while the 5,000-mark is expected to act as a strong support,? added Bhamre. The consistent premium of the Nifty February series, over the spot Nifty, suggests bullishness.
?The roll-over cost for the Nifty, which is equivalent to the premium at which the February series trades over the spot market, persistently stood in a range of R27-21. This indicates strong buy roll-over for the index,? says Savio Shetty, institutional derivatives trader at Prabhudas Lilladher.
Shetty said, ?The roll-over cost for some counters like RIL hit their highest levels in last six-months indicating traders who missed the market rally between 4600-5000 had entered after the Nifty crossed the 5,000 mark.?It would be crucial to see how the market behaves near 5,250-5,300 levels, a strong resistance zone,? added Shetty.
