FPIs have created short positions which may suggest further fall in marts.
FPIs have created short positions which may suggest further fall in marts.
Investors have carried forward most of their short positions following the expiry of January derivative series suggesting that the market sentiments remain bearish for the near term. Derivatives experts said that institutional investors especially the foreign portfolio investors (FPI’s) have created huge short positions in Nifty futures during the last two trading session.
“I am not saying that the markets are going to see a steep fall. But looking at the derivatives positions, it seems that institutional investors are bearish on the markets at the moment,” said Siddarth Bhamre, head of equity derivatives at Angel Broking. According to him, investors who were holding long (buy) positions had already squared-off their positions and exited the market. “We didn’t see much roll-over in the stock of HDFC Bank. The stock of HDFC Bank was the most stable stock in the Nifty and Bank Nifty basket and was also providing the much-needed support to the index. The lower roll-over positions in HDFC stock is not a positive sign for the market,” added Mr Bhamre. “Traders have carried forward their short position in the Bank Nifty futures contract, which indicates that the bank stocks are expected to remain under pressure in the coming days. We are not expecting a sharp bounce back in the market as bank stocks are having a higher weightage in the index,” said Amit Gupta, head of derivatives at ICICI Securities.
On Thursday, the equity markets ended the day with marginal losses. While the Sensex dropped 22.82 points or 0.09 per cent to close at 24,469.57, the broader 50-share Nifty closed at 7,424.65, losing 13.10 points or 0.18 per cent. Overseas investors remained net sellers on Thursday. According to the provisional data, FPI offloaded shares worth Rs 961.82 crore.
