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SCMP Reporter

OVERSEAS selling continued in index futures yesterday amid nervous sentiment towards US unemployment data and developments in China.

Contract volume was 14,929 and index option activity saw 3,396 lots traded.

Selling pushed the October contract to 9,200 points. Locals pushed the contract to the day's low at 9,155.

In the afternoon, according to Jardine Fleming, short-covering reversed the downward trend.

The contract closed 60 points lower at 9,230, with the majority of the decline coming after the cash market had closed. The close was 54 points below that of the cash market.

November was down 65 points at 9,245.

JF said: 'Investors in the options market with a more pessimistic view on the future bought out-of-the-money put options for protection.' Confirmed open interest in index futures saw 35,413 contracts in October and 52 in November. In options the total was 28,224 lots.

Implied volatility in the front month was around 27 per cent. In at-the-money calls and puts in March next year, it was 29 per cent.

  Dealers said sentiment was increasingly being goverened by outside forces, with many local investors that had alleged connections in Beijing staying on the sidelines until a clearer picture was available regarding paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's health.



Sellers dominate nervous trade