Indian equity indices advanced for a third straight week on Friday, but little over 0.5 percent gains were lowest since November 27 of last year.
For the day, the Nifty 50 index advanced 0.5 percent to close at 8,822. The index's futures added 1.7 percent in open interest (OI), indicating accumulation of long positions. Traders entered the last week before expiration of February contacts with rollovers of 12.7 percent on the Nifty futures, lower than the previous 3-month average of 21 percent.
The Nifty Bank index advanced 1.3 percent and saw larger accumulation of long positions as its futures OI increased 8.8 percent across all series. Foreign institutional investors sold index futures worth Rs 713 crore on a net basis.
The India Volatility Index (VIX) retreated further by 2.2 percent to close at 13.43 indicating contraction in option premiums. Maximum open interest remained with the 9,000 call and 8,500 put to broadly indicate a near-term range for the Nifty. FIIs bought 15,379 index call contracts and 7,149 index put contracts on a net basis.
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