Snapping 3-day gaining streak, Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended red with cut of over three percent on Thursday as crude oil prices rose. Index began the session with cut of around two and half percent and remained under pressure till the end of the session, as Iran struck Middle East energy facilities in retaliation for an Israeli attack on the South Pars gas field. Market witnessed huge sell-off across the sectors amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. Besides, traders were cautious after a report by ICRA and ASSOCHAM stated that fresh slippages in the banking sector expected to rise in the near term due to emerging stress in the retail and MSME segments, even as overall asset quality remains strong. 

All sectorial indices ended in red. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India. On the other hand, the top losers were Petronet LNG, Shriram Finance and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 21900 - 22100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 21.79% and reached 22.80. The 50 share Nifty down by 775.65 point or 3.26% to settle at 23,002.15.

Nifty March 2026 futures closed at 23125.70 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 123.55 points over spot closing of 23002.15, while Nifty April 2026 futures ended at 23270.00 (LTP), at a premium of 267.85 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 8,173 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,76,680 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 30, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.15 points at 801.15 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 800.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 193,203. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.60 points at 1392.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1392.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,705. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.10 points at 1261.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1259.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,348. (Provisional)

Infosys March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 1.00 points at 1225.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1226.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,518. (Provisional)

Tata Consultancy Services March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.10 points at 2363.90 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2362.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,819. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 24000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 8,407 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 23000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 14,467 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (84,632 units) and that for Puts was at 22000 SP (80,454 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 23277.12 -- Pivot Point 23103.73 -- Support 22828.77.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.10) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Jindal Steel (1.09), GAIL (India) (1.08), RBL Bank (1.04), Petronet LNG (0.95), and LIC Housing Finance (0.93).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 38,126 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 2,587 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 1,211 units of Open Interest in the March month future, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 2,341 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and Infosys witnessed an addition of 8,475 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional).