The August series rollover for Nifty futures was the lowest since May series at 64.1% and well below a three-month average of 67.5% even as open interest in the futures stood at a healthy 2.1 crore shares.
Traders, however, cited the Nifty rollovers to be normal with stronger hands actively rolling over their long (buy ) positions, while that of the Bank Nifty subsided to 67% compared to 78.5% in the last series. Even the open interest in Bank Nifty declined to 1.5 crore shares against a strong 2.9 crore shares at the beginning of the August series.
?Robust open interest in the Bank Nifty during the August series resulted in long-unwinding in the banking space. As a result, the index remained under pressure through out the series. However, that may not happen in the September series,? said Siddarth Bhamre, head of equity derivatives, Angel Broking.
Bank Nifty fell 1.8% in the August series against a 5.4% gain made by the Nifty during the period. According to traders, the Nifty may witness a strong support near the 5,200 mark, given the build-up of about 56 lakh shares in the September 5,200 puts. On the other hand, the build-up in call options of 5,400-5,600 strikes of the September series point to a resistant zone.