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Informist, Friday, May 22, 2026

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – Options chain indicate that the upside in the index is likely capped in the coming sessions as traders sold deep out-of-the-money contracts and put options across board. Analysts said the index is undergoing a time-wise correction. Analysts did not ascertain that the index will see a sharp rise even as there are hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran. This was mainly due to the evolving nature of the situation at West Asia. The index is expected to face strong resistance at 23800 points in the near term, as addition of call contracts at that strike was prominent during the day.

Friday, the index closed at 23719.30 points, up 0.3%. The index has fallen over 1% this week. In the near term, technical analysts expect the index to broadly move between 23500 points and 24000 points. Analysts said the headline index is most unlikely to see a significant rise until the crude oil prices fall below $100 a dollar.

If the index crosses 23860 points in the near term, high bouts of short-covering can happen, Bhavya Shah, technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox, said. The highest open interest was in call side at 24000 strike, which will act as the resistance, he added. 

Traders added long bets at call contracts with strike prices 24400 and 24500 Friday. Premiums on these strike prices fell by 22-26%. However, they sold deep out-of-the-money calls at 24750 and 25400, indicative of addition of short positions. The highest addition of open interest was at 24400 call and the maximum concentration was at 24000 call.

Traders sold put contracts expiring next week at across board. They wrote put contracts at strike prices such as 23750 and 23700 with their premiums falling 46-49%. This indicates the index may undergo selling pressure at such levels. They also sold put options at strikes such as 23500 and 23800. The highest addition of open interest was at the 23750 put and the maximum concentration was at the 23000 put.

--Nifty 50 May closed at 23776.30, up 144.90 points; 57.00-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 June closed at 23842.00, up 115.20 points; 122.70 point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 July closed at 23949.00, up 134.30 points; 229.70-point premium to the spot index

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Axis Bank, and Bharti Airtel were the most actively traded underlying stocks Friday. End

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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