More Stories

Informist, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026

 

By Eshitva Prakash

 

MUMBAI – Traders rushed to buy near-the-money put options of the Nifty 50 after the closing auction session resulted in the benchmark index giving up most of its intraday recovery. While the headline index had closed lower when the continuous trading session ended, it was still significantly above the session's lows. While premiums on near-the-money puts closed significantly below intraday peaks, they ended up more intrinsically valuable than Friday.

 

The Nifty 50 ended at 24287.65 points, down 78.35 points or 0.3% from Friday. When the continuous trading session ended, the Nifty 50 had ended at 24338.40 points, down just 0.1% from Friday but almost 0.5?ove its intraday lows. By the time the closing auction session ended, the recovery from intraday lows was just about 60 points. Metal and select banking stocks supported the 50-stock index, while shares of metal, realty, and defence companies helped the broader market recover. Information technology and pharmaceutical stocks were among the worst-hit constituents of the Nifty 50 index. 

 

The closing auction session, which was implemented on Aug. 3 to replace the volume-weighted average price method, was expected to reduce manipulation in closing prices and improve price discovery. However, since the system's implementation, the Nifty 50 has seen large differences between continuous trading and closing auction levels, high volatility at market open, and erratic movement in options pricing. The newly adopted three-working-day contracts in the securities lending and borrowing segment will likely boost liquidity during the closing auction session, Jatin Gedia, vice president of technical research at Teji Mandi Investment Technologies, said. However, Gedia added that at least a couple of sessions are needed to judge the move's effectiveness.

 

The premium of the put contract at 24300 strike price ended over 5% higher than Friday at INR 38.45. At its intraday low, the contract was valued at just INR 26.00, down nearly 29% from Friday. However, despite ending higher than the previous session, the Nifty 50's recovery during the session kept the contract well below its intraday peak of INR 94.80. The contract had the highest open interest among put options and recorded a net addition of 4 million contracts, ending at 14.62 million. 

 

A similar swing in premium was seen in the put option at the 24200 strike price. The contract's premium ended over 2% higher at INR 70.60 after retreating sharply from its intraday highs. In-the-money put contracts also ended the day a little higher than Friday.  

 

Traders continued to sell call contracts as the Nifty 50 extended its losing run to the fifth consecutive session. Premiums across 24300–24500 strike prices declined 50–80%. Further out-of-the-money call options also came under selling pressure. While there are several reasons why the headline index has fallen for five straight sessions - high crude oil prices, concerns of high inflation, and worries about the September quarter earnings - the near-term structure of the Nifty 50 is range-bound, technical analysts said. Better-than-expected June quarter earnings have been a key factor keeping the Nifty 50 from falling sharply. 

 

"I expect the Nifty (50) weekly contract to expire around 24400–24500 points," Gedia said. "The put-call ratio has improved to 0.95 from 0.89, which is a key positive," the analyst said. "The Nifty (50) has fallen for five sessions and I think there is some space for the index to rebound," the analyst said. The highest open interest on the call side was at 24500 points, while on the put side it was at 24300 points. These two levels will likely act as resistance and support for the Nifty 50, respectively, as traders generally bet in the opposite direction to closing auction levels when the market opens and push the index back toward the level at which continuous trading ended. 

 

--Nifty 50 August closed at 24370.00, down 79.60 points; 82.35-point premium to the spot index
--Nifty 50 September closed at 24512.10, down 74.90 points; 224.45-point premium to the spot index
--Nifty 50 October closed at 24650.10, down 74.30 points; 362.45-point premium to the spot index

BSE, Reliance Industries, Ashok Leyland, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Ashok Leyland, Voltas, Hindustan Aeronautics, Axis Bank, and State Bank of India were the most actively traded underlying stocks Monday.  End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.