More Stories

Informist, Friday, Mar. 6, 2026

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – The headline Nifty 50 index is expected to remain under selling pressure in the near term as traders refuse to take long positions amid continued hostilities in West Asia, derivative analysts said. A few market participants believe that while there are attractive entry points in the Nifty 50 and there may even be buying at those levels, it will not be substantial enough to limit the index's fall. Analysts said traders are 80% short in the options chain, indicating that any rise in the index is unlikely to be sustained.

In the near term, the Nifty 50 may test the 23500-point level amid the geopolitical crisis in West Asia and the resultant rise in crude oil prices, an equity fund manager at a domestic broking firm said. Friday, the Nifty 50 closed at 24450.45 points, down 315.45 points or 1.3%. Technical analysts see continued volatility in the index in upcoming sessions with no risk appetite among market participants.

Experts also expect the market to slide further if crude oil prices remain high for a prolonged period. The May futures contract of Brent crude oil has spiked 25% since the outbreak of hostilities, reaching a level it hadn't seen in two years. At 2037 IST, the crude oil contract for delivery in May was at $91.77 a barrel.

Traders shifted their bets to deep out-of-the-money strikes to position themselves on the safe side, Rajesh Palviya, head of research, technical and derivatives, at Axis Securities, said. "Call writers are now more active at lower strikes to encash the opportunity, as higher strikes give low premiums," he said. It is the same on the put side, he added. "Now nobody wants to write contracts at the normal gap of 500-600 points, people are betting at deep strikes," Palviya said. A reversal of the trend may only come about if the Nifty 50 crosses 24800 points, he said. Until then, it will be under pressure.

The options chain indicated that traders wrote call options at immediate out-of-the-money strikes, indicating that the index would not be able to sustain any rise from the current level. Premiums on call strikes between 24600 and 24800 points fell 54-63%, indicating that traders had added short positions at strike prices above the spot level. This also means the likelihood of a recovery in the index in the near term is less. Traders also cut their positions at higher out-of-the-money strikes. Moreover, premiums were low at such strikes.

On the put side, traders closed long positions at in-the-money strikes, possibly to prevent losses. Premiums at deep out-of-the-money puts at 23200-23300 strikes increased 10-11%, with traders adding 1 million-2 million fresh contracts. This implies market participants expect a steep fall. The highest addition and concentration of open interest was at the 22750 put. On the call side, the highest addition of open interest was at the 25000 strike. The maximum concentration of open interest was at the 26000 strike.

--Nifty 50 March closed at 24565.20, down 289.10 points; 114.75-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 April closed at 24727.50, down 282.50 points; 277.05-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 May closed at 24831.00, down 287.50 points; 380.55-point premium to the spot index

Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Bharat Electronics, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Hindustan Aeronautics, Oil and Natural Gas Corp., United Spirits, National Aluminium Co., Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, InterGlobe Aviation, and Vedanta were the most actively traded underlying stocks Friday.  End

US$1 = INR 91.74

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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.