Indices end marginally lower; auto stocks rally higher

Market update at 3.30 PM: Nifty ended at day at 17,213, lower by 19 points or 0.11 per cent while Sensex tanked nearly 200 points. However, Nifty Smallcap ended higher over half a per cent while Nifty Midcap ended flat. 

Auto, as well as pharma stocks, supported the market as Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto & Sun Pharma emerged as the top gainers while SBI, Coal India, and ITC were the top losers.  

The 17,000 put option continues to hold the highest open interest while a huge addition of open interest has been seen at 16,700. On the call side, 17,500 has the highest open interest. Thus, it is expected that Nifty would end December series somewhere between 17,000 and 17,500.

Market update at 1 PM: Nifty is trading range-bound between 17,180 and 17,285 while Sensex is marginally lower by 0.05 per cent. Nifty Smallcap has gained over half a per cent while Nifty Midcap is flat. 

Nifty Pharma is the only sector trading over a per cent higher while the other indices are mixed. Sun Pharma is the top gainer for Nifty while Tata Steel is the top loser.  

With December expiry on Thursday, volatility cannot be ignored as the session progresses.

Market update at 10.15 AM: Nifty is trading flat with huge volatility as it swings in both directions. After hitting the high of 17,285, Nifty has witnessed a sharp fall of about 60 points in the last five minutes. Even Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are trading flat. India VIX is up by 1 per cent.  

Nifty Bank is trading flat and has lost initial gains. Only Nifty Pharma is trading in the green while the other sectoral indices are trading negatively. Wednesday’s trading session has been quite volatile for the past few weeks, and this Wednesday is no exception to it. Let’s see how the session pans out further.  

Pre-market update: Asian markets have opened flat to negative on Wednesday morning while SGX Nifty indicates marginally lower opening of about 30 points for Nifty.
Last night, the US markets ended mixed with NASDAQ slipping about half a per cent while Dow ended marginally higher.
For the first time in this month, FIIs have turned net buyers, and bought for Rs 268 crore worth of equity and DIIs too bought equity worth Rs 567 crore; thus, propelling the market higher.
Since the FIIs have turned end buyers, we might expect a short covering rally in Bank Nifty. Thus, banking stocks shall be in focus today.
The 17,000 put option has the highest open interest, which tells that 17,000 will be a major support level for Nifty this expiry.