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Informist, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025

 

By Simran Rede

 

MUMBAI – With the expiry of the monthly derivatives contract of the benchmark Nifty 50 index approaching, traders wrote call options at multiple out-of-the-money strikes. They also sold call options for contracts expiring Jan. 6. Analysts expect the weakness in the market to continue for the next few sessions.

 

The Nifty 50 settled at 26042.30 points, down 99.80 points or 0.4%. The index snapped a three-week fall to end the week on a positive note, but closed below 26100 points after three sessions.

 

Traders sold call options at multiple strikes in the current week as well as in next week's contracts, Vipin Kumaar, derivatives and technical analyst at Globe Capital Market, said. He expects the 50-stock index to find immediate support around 25950 points and face resistance at 26150-26230 levels.

 

Premiums on out-of-the-money call contracts of the Nifty 50 at strike prices between 26100 and 26300 points declined 64-74% while those on put contracts at 25900-25950 strikes rose 7-22%. The maximum addition of open interest was at 26100 call and 26050 put contracts while the highest concentration was at 26200 call and 26000 put. Traders added short positions to the January futures series of the Nifty 50, which closed 0.4% lower at 26236.00 points with open interest rising more than 75% to 5.66 million.

 

Analysts said market participants are being cautious in the absence of fresh catalysts and limited progress in the India-US trade talks, and ahead of the upcoming earnings season and the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). Though the outflow of foreign investment continues to weigh on sentiment, domestic participation has remained high, supporting the market.

 

The net short positions of foreign institutional investors declined for the fourth consecutive session Friday, ICICI Direct said in a report. Analysts expect this covering of short positions to continue till the expiry of the derivatives contract. Shares of information technology and fast-moving consumer goods companies are likely to remain in focus in case of continued buying by foreign institutional investors, the broking firm said.

 

"Considering renewed FII buying seen last week, we expect a broader recovery in the markets and momentum may be seen if Nifty (50) sustains above 26200 levels," it said. "However, failure to move beyond this range may keep Nifty (50) in the prevailing range with major support remaining near 26000 levels."

 

--Nifty 50 December closed at 26058.00, down 115.10 points; 15.70-point premium to the spot index
--Nifty 50 January closed at 26236.00, down 115.90 points; 193.70-point premium to the spot index
--Nifty 50 February closed at 26367.00, down 131.60 points; 324.70-point premium to the spot index

 

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Vedanta, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Eternal, Vodafone Idea, Rail Vikas Nigam, Shriram Finance, InterGlobe Aviation, Tata Consultancy Services, State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Maruti Suzuki India, and Dixon Technologies (India) were the most actively traded underlying stocks Friday.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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