Huge call writing at 3000-3200 strikes, Nifty Jan narrows premium

In futures, Nifty January provisionally settled at a premium of 6 points against 7.4 points on Tuesday. The contract price slipped 0.73 per cent while open interest added 21 lakh shares. The cost of carry was at 2.78 per cent little changed from previous day. Huge call writing was observed from 3000 to 3200 strikes while put writing was seen at 2900 and 2800 strikes. Put buying was witnessed at 3000 and 2700 strikes. Traders bought put at 2700 strike to hedge their portfolios. "Today's fall can be attributed to profit booking from traders as they don't want to hold their positions for longer duration. Given the options build up, I expect Nifty to trade in 2900-3000 levels. For traders, buying lower level puts at every rise will be a good strategy to gain from volatility," said Ankit Sinha, CEO-Spark Advisory. In stocks futures, Reliance Industries January fell 1.83 per cent while open interest added 3.8 lakh shares. State Bank of India slipped 0.55 per cent while added 1.9 lakh shares in open interest. DLF futures dropped 1.91 per cent and ICICI Bank skid 2.55 per cent. Reliance Communications slid 0.61 per cent while open interest added 4 lakh shares. Suzlon rose 1.47 per cent and Satyam Computers jumped 7.65 per cent on short covering. Tata Steel advanced 0.44 per cent and open interest just added 1.12 per cent.