INTERNATIONAL

Asian shares tumbled on Wednesday as oil prices dropped for a third day, prompting investors to seek shelter in

safe-haven assets and lifting bonds and gold to multi-month highs. U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Tuesday as

renewed declines in oil prices weighed amid mixed reaction to some key earnings reports. U.S. oil

futures extended losses after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a 3.8 million

inventory build. The front-month contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell to $29.63 after it

settled at $29.88 a barrel, down 5.5 percent, or $1.74.Brent for April delivery dropped $1.79, or 5.23

percent, to $32.43 a barrel, after touching a low of $32.23, down 5.9 percent, in the session. Hopes for an

agreement to cut production dimmed this week as no deal has emerged and talks between Russia's energy

minister and Venezuela's oil minister on Monday failed to result in any clear plan to reduce output. European

markets tumbled to close sharply lower on Tuesday, as concerns over oil prices haunted traders and investors

worldwide. Gold trimmed its gains Tuesday afternoon after touching three-month highs in the morning,

underpinned by global growth concerns and as another sharp drop in the oil price pushed investors towards safe-

haven assets. Spot gold touched $1,131.40 an ounce early on Tuesday, its strongest since Nov. 3.

National

Nifty - ended lower on Tuesday on account of sustained selling by fund and retail investors amid weak global cues.

Sentiment was under pressure after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept its key policy rates unchanged, opting

to wait for the governments annual budget statement at the end of February for further easing. Meanwhile,

Moodys Investors Services report that RBIs target to bring down retail inflation at 5 per cent by March 2017 will

face some risks from monsoon uncertainty and execution of 7th Pay Panel recommendations, while macro-

economic factors will be critical for sustaining growth. Besides, depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened the

sentiments. The rupee depreciated by 12 paise to trade at 67.96 against the US dollar at the time of equity markets

closing. Back home, after getting a flat-to-positive opening , benchmark were alternating between positive and

negative territory for the most part of day, but sharp selling was witnessed in the last leg of hour that dragged the

market intraday low, and Nifty ended with loss of over 100 points.

Nifty was down by 100.40 points or 1.33% to settle at 7,455.55. Nifty February 2016 futures closed 7474.95 on

Tuesday at a premium of 19.40 points over spot closing of 7,455.55, while Nifty March 2016 futures ended at

7490.35 at a premium of 34.80 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw contraction of 0.73 million (mn)

units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 19.33 million (mn) units.

The top gainers from the F&O segment were United Breweries, Just Dial and Oracle Financial Services Software. On

the other hand, the top losers were Vedanta, Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India. In the index options segment,

maximum OI was being seen in the 7500-8000 calls and 7000-7500 puts. Among Nifty calls, 7600 SP from the

February month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 0.27 million open interests. Among Nifty puts,

7500 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 0.12 million open interests.

The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 7600 SP (4.23 mn) and that for Puts was at 7400 SP (4.24 mn). In

today's session, while the traders preferred to exit 7400 put, heavy buildup was seen in the 7200 put. On the other

hand, traders exited from 7400 Call, while 7900 call witnessed considerable OI addition. Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR)

finally stood at 0.99 for February month contract.