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Informist, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – Bearish sentiment is likely to persist in the domestic stock market amid growing geopolitical uncertainties and with the rupee hitting new lows. Traders added short positions at out-of-the-money call options across the board and bought put options below the Nifty 50's spot level. Disappointing December quarter earnings from heavyweights also soured sentiment.

The Nifty 50 options chain showed traders primarily wrote call contracts at 25200-25300 strikes, indicating there will be selling pressure just above the current spot level. At the 25200 call, premiums fell 75% and traders sold 8.64 million contracts during the day, implying that this strike price had the maximum addition of open interest. Traders even sold 25100 call options, indicating that a further rise in the index is not expected next week. The 25500 points call, which had the maximum concentration of open interest, will act as the next resistance.

On the put side, traders bought options below the spot level, implying increased likelihood of a fall next week. The 24700 strike put had the maximum addition of contracts, suggesting that this would be the next support level for the Nifty 50. If the index falls to this level, it would have fallen over 1% from the current spot level and around 6% from the all-time high of 26373.20 points attained on Jan. 5. The highest concentration of open interest was at the 24000 put followed by the 25000 put.

The Nifty 50 closed at 25048.65 points, down 241.25 points or 1%. The headline index has declined 2.5% in the week. So far in 2026, it has fallen 4%. While the prediction of a new lifetime high for the Nifty 50 in the new year came true, the index has failed to hold on to the level. "...short- to medium-term sentiment is likely to remain weak as long as the index trades below 25,500. On the downside, the decline could extend toward 24,700 in the short term," Rupak De, technical analyst at LKP Securities, said in a note.  

--Nifty 50 January closed at 25080.00, down 269.80 points; 31.35-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 February closed at 25207.60, down 257.10 points; 158.95-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 March closed at 25391.00, down 297.40 points; 342.35-point premium to the spot index

HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys, One 97 Communications, Eternal, Adani Enterprises, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Hindustan Zinc, Shriram Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Vodafone Idea, InterGlobe Aviation, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, JSW Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, and Larsen & Toubro were the most actively traded underlying stocks Friday.  End

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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