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Informist, Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2026

 

By Anshul Choudhary

 

MUMBAI – Better stock valuations helped limit the market's fall after crude oil futures rose as the US and Iran exchanged fire yet again in West Asia. Traders added short positions aggressively after the market opened after news of higher crude oil prices, but a limited fall in the cash market and news of the government considering to cut taxes for foreign investors pushed option traders to cut their short positions.

 

The Nifty 50 index had fallen as much as 1.4% intraday amid reports of missile attacks at Kuwait's airport. However, relatively better valuations pushed market participants to buy banking stocks, which helped the cash market shed most of the losses with the Nifty 50 index ending the session 0.4% lower at 23405.60 points.

 

The market is expected to see limited fall even if tensions between the US and Iran continue in the near term as better valuations should push investors to buy at every fall, analysts said. However, the market is expected to fall more if the war continues for a few more months.

 

Traders added short positions across call and put options amid concerns of high crude oil prices affecting India's economic growth. The Brent crude oil August futures contract rose to near $99 per barrel after news of fresh attacks in Kuwait. The futures contract is still up 35% compared with prices just before the war started.

 

For the call options expiring Tuesday, premiums fell across strike prices, with the highest open interest addition at 23500-24000 strike prices. For put options, the highest open interest was seen at 22800-23300 strike prices. Open interest data suggests indecision about the market's direction and the Nifty 50 is expected to move in a range.

 

"While prices continue to oscillate within a well-defined range, a strategy of buying near strong support levels and booking profits, or selling near resistance zones, as highlighted in our earlier commentary, may continue to be considered," Hitesh Rathi, technical analyst at Angel One, said in a note.

 

--Nifty 50 June closed at 23490.00, down 113.10 points; 84.40-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 July closed at 23592.00, down 113.70 points; 186.40-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 August closed at 23800.00, down 101.40 points; 294.40-point premium to the spot index

 

Tata Consultancy Services, State Bank of India, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, BSE, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Vodafone Idea, and NHPC were the most actively traded underlying stocks on Wednesday.  End

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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