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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

 

By Simran Rede

 

MUMBAI – Traders are showing some caution for the market ahead, with the benchmark indices having risen for two straight sessions. The war in West Asia and rising crude oil prices continue to affect investor sentiment. Traders added short positions on the call side while writing put options of out-of-the-money strikes. Premiums across most out-of-the-money call and put options of Nifty 50 fell 100?ch.

 

The Nifty 50 Tuesday settled at 23581.15, up 172.35 points or 0.7% from the previous session. The BSE Sensex closed at 76070.84, up 567.99 points or 0.8%. The resistance for the 50-stock index is pegged at 23800 points and support at 23300 points, said Vipin Kumaar, assistant vice-president at Globe Capital Market.  

 

As long as the Nifty 50 stays below 23600-23700 points, analysts' view will remain cautious. Investors will continue to be wary unless there are positive tidings on the US-Iran war front. In the latest development, Israel claimed to have killed Iran's security chief Ali Larijani in an attack overnight, although there is no official comment from Iran yet, Aljazeera reported.

 

"...it is premature to conclude that this (two-day) reversal (in the market) is sustainable in the short term, as war-related uncertainties persist," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said in a note. "Whereas from a long-term perspective, deploying funds appears reasonable, given the correction in India's premium valuations and the intact outlook for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar)," he said.

   

The put-call ratio for the contracts expiring next week turned positive during the session, resulting in positive movement Tuesday, Kumaar of Globe Capital Market said. "Next week options are trading with a PCR close to 1, indicating a range bound session," he added.

 

The highest open interest concentration as well as addition was at 25000 strike price of call option, while the highest open interest concentration and addition was at 21000 put option. Premiums on 25000 call contracts expiring next week declined 59%, while those on 21000 put options fell 63%.

 

The policy decision of the US Federal Reserve Wednesday is expected to act as a key trigger for the next directional move. Investors expects the US Federal Open Market Committee to maintain status quo on interest rates, which is unlikely to materially influence market sentiment, as the focus is more on de-escalation of the US-Iran war, Nair of Geojit Investments, said in a note.

 

--Nifty 50 March closed at 23613.00, up 183.80 points; 31.85-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 April closed at 23765.00, up 200.50 points; 183.85-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 May closed at 23885.30, up 170.90 points; 304.15-point premium to the spot index

 

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Eternal, Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Waaree Energies, BSE, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharti Airtel, National Aluminium Co., Coforge, Bharat Electronics, and Axis Bank were the most actively traded underlying stocks Tuesday.  End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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