Sensex, Nifty50 off to a cautious start ahead of September F&O expiry

Marketwide rollovers stood at 56 per cent till Wednesday,
which was in line with the average rollover
of 56 per cent seen in last three series. 

NEW DELHI: Benchmark indices opened on a cautious note on Thursday ahead of the expiry of September series futures and options contracts later in the day. Global cues were firm but a persistent weakness in rupee weighed on market sentiment. 

At 9.23 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 6 points, or 0.02 per cent, lower at 31,153. The index was down nearly 50 points in morning trade. 

The Nifty50 was ruling at 9,726.70, down 9.05 points, or 0.09 per cent. The midcap and smallcap indices were trading flat. 

Marketwide rollovers stood at 56 per cent till Wednesday, which was in line with the average rollover of 56 per cent seen in last three series. Nifty rollovers at 46 per cent were slightly lower than 46 per cent, the average for last three month rollovers. 

"Short roll aggression from the domestic arbitrageurs coupled with weak market has kept the roll levels under pressure. Some of these FII positions have opted to unwind. Hence going into the expiry day, unless there is a meaningful expansion in roll levels, FII short roll arbitrageurs will prefer selling," Edelweiss Securities said in a note. 

Among Sensex stocks, Asian Paints fell 2.11 per cent to Rs 1,136.50. Adani Ports, ONGC and Dr Reddy's Laboratories declined 1.53 per cent, 1.38 per cent and 0.96 per cent, respectively. 

ITC, TCS, Wipro and ICICI bank gained 0.77 per cent, 0.72 per cent, 0.55 per cent and 0.42 per cent, respectively. A drop in rupee value boosts revenue for domestic IT firms. 

Panic dollar selling continued to weigh on rupee on Thursday. The local currency was trading nearly 15 paise down at 65.86 against dollar in the morning trade. The currency opened at 65.78 a dollar against the previous close of 65.71. 

The domestic currency had fallen by 99 paise to day's low of 65.78 level on Wednesday last week's closing closing of 64.79. 

Meanwhile, Asian shares were trading firm on Thursday after US President Donald Trump proposed the biggest US tax overhaul in three decades. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5 per cent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade. 

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