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Informist, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025

 

By Anjana Therese Antony

 

MUMBAI – Long positions were added to the derivatives chain of steel companies as the government is likely to soon reimpose the safeguard duty on steel imports. Premiums on out-of-the-money call options and futures series of top steel companies surged, while those on put options declined, indicating near-term optimism towards these stocks. 

 

On Tuesday, Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik told CNBC-TV18 that the government is expected to take a decision on steel safeguard duty soon. The government had imposed a 12% provisional safeguard duty for 200 days in April to prevent cheap foreign goods from flooding the domestic market. In August, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies had recommended a three-year import tariff of 11-12% on some steel products. Poundrik said the demand for steel is expected to rise 8-10% going forward and steel prices are expected to stabilise in 2026. 

 

The Nifty Metal index increased the most among sectoral indices and closed 2.1% higher at 10280.70 points, extending its rise to the second day in a row. Of the 15 index constituents, 14 closed in the green. Shares of Hindalco Industries, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Steel Authority of India, and JSW Steel closed 1.5-4% higher. 

 

In the options chain of JSW Steel, premiums on call strikes INR 1,160-INR 1,300 expiring on Dec. 30 rose 71-135% and those on INR 1,150-INR 980 put options declined 27-45%. The stock closed almost 4% higher at INR 1,154.40 on the National Stock Exchange, extending its gains for the second straight session. The highest addition to open interest was in the INR 1,200 call and INR 1,000 put contracts. The December futures series of the steel company saw slightly bullish bets and open interest rose almost 1% to over 44 million. 

 

Similar long bets were added to the derivatives chain of Steel Authority of India, too, which closed nearly 4% higher at INR 136.92. Premiums on call strikes, which are 2-14?ove the stock's current market price, rose by 15-63%. Prices of put contracts INR 135-INR 125, which are 1-9?low the spot level of SAIL, declined by 26-42%. The December contracts of SAIL closed 3.5% higher and open interest increased almost 10% to 151 million. 

 

However, traders exited some bullish positions in futures contracts expiring at the end of December for Jindal Steel and Hindalco Industries. Open interest in these securities' futures fell 0.3-0.7%. 

 

The domestic equity market, too, surged Wednesday, led by broad-based buying across the board. Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex each closed 1.2% higher at 26205.30 points and 85609.51 points, respectively. These indices closed above their psychologically important 26000 and 85000 levels after two days. These indices are less than 0.5% away from their all-time highs hit in September last year.

 

Shares of banks and information technology companies primarily pushed the domestic market higher amid increasing optimism about a likely reduction in interest rates in both the US and India. The Reserve Bank of India and the US Federal Reserve are expected to reduce key rates by 25 basis points in December. 

 

--Nifty 50 December closed at 26390.00, up 334.60 points; 184.70-point premium to the spot index
--Nifty 50 January closed at 26540.00, up 305.40 points; 334.70-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 February closed at 26687.10, up 406.30 points; 481.80-point premium to the spot index

 

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Multi Commodity Exchange of India, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, BSE, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Axis Bank, Adani Enterprises, Larsen & Toubro, Shriram Finance, Sammaan Capital, Tata Consultancy Services, and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles were the most actively traded underlying stocks Wednesday.  End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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