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Informist, Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

 

By Simran Rede

 

MUMBAI – More short bets were added to the derivatives chain of the Nifty 50 Friday after the index fell below its immediate support of 24000 points after seven consecutive sessions. Premiums on deep out-of-the-money call options declined while those on put contracts rose, indicating near-term pessimism. Analysts expect the Nifty 50 to test 23500 points next week as traders aggressively bought out-of-the-money put contracts while selling call options. 

 

The Nifty 50 closed 1.1% lower at 23897.95 points after closing above 24000 points in the seven previous sessions. The near-term support for the index is seen at 23600-23500 points and resistance at 24200-24300 points, according to derivative analysts. The 50-stock index is still down more than 5% from the pre-war level, as crude oil prices remain above the psychologically crucial $100-per-barrel mark. At 1602 IST, the June futures contract of Brent Crude oil was 2% higher at $107.18 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange.

 

Premiums on call strikes 23900-25000 of the Nifty 50 expiring next week declined by 28-49%, while those on put strikes 23900-23100 contracts increased by 31-81%. The maximum open interest additions were at the 24000-point call and the 23900-point put, expiring Tuesday. The highest concentration of open interest was in the 25000-point call and the 23000-point put. "The Put-Call Ratio for Nifty (50) stands at 0.7, indicating a bearish undertone among market participants," Vatsal Bhuva, a technical and derivatives analyst at LKP Securities, said.

 

Traders also added bearish bets to the futures series of the Nifty 50. The May and June contracts closed 0.9% and 1.0% lower and open interest rose 60% and 12% to almost 7.69 million and 1.21 million, respectively. The April futures contract closed 0.9% lower at 23935 points. 

 

Sentiment was also dented by the downgrades of Indian equities by global brokerages. Indian equities are seen as weak, given the correction driven by the ongoing war and persistent outflows of foreign investment. "While valuations have corrected, investors are expected to closely monitor the ongoing results for any potential earnings downgrade, given the wobbling geopolitical uncertainties," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said in a note.

 

Even though analysts were positive on Indian equities earlier and expected them to gain in the long run on better earnings growth and a pickup in consumption, global brokerages HSBC and JP Morgan downgraded Indian equities. JP Morgan has downgraded Indian equities to 'neutral' from 'overweight' and has also trimmed its bull case target for the Nifty 50 to 30000 points, down 9% from the earlier estimate. HSBC downgraded Indian equities to 'underweight' from 'neutral' due to a rise in crude oil prices. HSBC sees potential inflation and demand pressures likely posing threats to the durability of India's earnings recovery. It believes the Indian equity market looks less attractive than the North East Asian market in the current macroeconomic environment. 

 

--Nifty 50 April closed at 23935.00, down 228.00 points; 37.05-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 May closed at 24034.70, down 223.20 points; 136.75-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 June closed at 24165.00, down 245.60 points; 267.05-point premium to the spot index

 

HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Shriram Finance, Axis Bank, JSW Steel, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Hindustan Zinc, and Trent were the most actively traded underlying stocks Friday.  End

 

US$1 = INR 94.25

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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