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Informist, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

 

By Gopika Balasubramanium

 

MUMBAI – Premiums on out-of-the-money put options at 25600-25700 strike expiring next week jumped Thursday, while those across call contracts declined, indicating that the index is expected to fall more in the near term. Derivatives analysts predicted volatility in the market to persist amid concerns over US tariffs and ahead of the December quarter earnings season starting soon. 

 

On Thursday, Indian equity indices also fell prey to the pessimism across global equity markets, which were lower after US President Donald Trump favoured a bipartisan bill imposing additional tariffs on countries that buy Russian crude oil, which puts both India and China in a tight spot. The Nifty 50 broke the crucial 26100 support level during the session, a surprise for the market, as analysts had so far predicted only a shallow fall in the benchmark index. The Nifty 50 closed lower for a fourth session in a row, ending at 25876.85 points, short of 263.90 points from the previous close.      

 

Investor sentiment was scarred after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announced on Thursday that Trump has approved the Sanctioning Russia Act granting sweeping authority to the president to penalise Russia's trading partners over their purchase of Russian oil. "This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin's bloodbath against Ukraine," Graham said in a post on social media platform X. The bipartisan legislation would require the US to impose a punitive 500% tariff on all goods imported from any country that continues to purchase Russian oil, petroleum products or uranium. 

 

"As long as Nifty 50 does not close above 26100, the short-term trend remains weak," Nandish Shah, senior technical and derivatives analyst, said. "There was aggressive call writing at 26000-26100 strike and there was put buying near 25600 strike, indicating negative sentiment," Shah said. "...the put-call ratio has fallen to 0.67, and I have not seen such massive fall recently," he added.  
 

The options chain showed that traders wrote call contracts at the out-of-the-money 26000-26100 strikes, with open interest rising sharply to over 14-15 million, indicating maximum addition at these levels. Meanwhile, the highest concentration of open interest was at the 26200 strike. Traders placed short bets on the call side, with premiums across call options declining. Out-of-the-money call strikes between 26200-26300 saw 82-83?cline in premiums, indicating that traders do not expect the Nifty 50 to rise to such levels in the near term. 

 

Meanwhile, premiums on out-of-the-money put options expiring next week increased, indicating the possibility of near-term correction in the index. Traders bought 25600 put contracts throughout the session, with premiums jumping nearly 316%. Derivatives analysts expect 25600 points as major support for the Nifty 50 in the near term. For put contracts, the maximum addition of open interest was at 25600 strike and maximum concentration was at 25500 put. 

 

--Nifty 50 January closed at 25965.00, down 270.30 points; 88.15-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 February closed at 26110.00, down 271.70 points; 233.15-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 March closed at 26301.00, down 266.70 points; 424.15-point premium to the spot index

 

ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharat Heavy Electronics, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Electronics, Dixon Technologies (India), National Aluminium Co., CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, IDFC FIRST Bank, ITC, State Bank of India, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, and BSE were the most actively traded underlying stocks.  End

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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