Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended marginally higher on Thursday. Index made a gap-down start following negative cues from other Asian peers as US President Donald Trump signalled continued aggressive military action and warned that US strikes on Iran would persist for the next few weeks. Soon, index extended its losses as persistent foreign fund outflow dampened investors’ sentiments. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 8,331.15 crore on April 1, 2026. Traders remained cautious as the HSBC India Manufacturing PMI fell to 53.9 in March 2026 from 56.9 in February, slightly higher than preliminary estimates of 53.8. However, in second half of the session, index started trimming losses as traders opted buy fundamentally good stocks at lower levels. Meanwhile, rupee strengthened by Rs 1.59 to trade at Rs 93.11 against US Dollar, also supported trading sentiments. In last leg of the session, index staged sharp recovery and managed to end the session tad above 22,700 mark.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 2.03% and reached 25.52. The 50 share Nifty up by 33.70 point or 0.15% to settle at 22,713.10.

Nifty April 2026 futures closed at 22773.00 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 59.90 points over spot closing of 22713.10, while Nifty May 2026 futures ended at 22915.00 (LTP), at a premium of 201.90 points over spot closing. Nifty April futures saw an addition of 16,127 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 3,36,395 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on April 28, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank April 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.60 points at 753.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 751.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 52,669. (Provisional)

Dixon Technologies (India) April 2026 futures traded at a discount of 85.00 points at 9805.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 9890.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,765. (Provisional)

Infosys April 2026 futures traded at a discount of 9.50 points at 1288.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1297.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,816. (Provisional)

State Bank of India April 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.15 points at 1020.15 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1018.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 22,401. (Provisional)

Tata Consultancy Services April 2026 futures traded at a premium of 13.10 points at 2458.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2445.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 20,766. (Provisional)

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.96) for April month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Tata Consumer Products (1.79), SBI Life Insurance Company (1.70), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (1.42), Britannia Industries (1.36), and PNB Housing Finance (1.35).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 1,692 units of Open Interest in the April month futures, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 2,565 units of Open Interest in the April month future, Dixon Technologies (India) witnessed an addition of 7,682 units of Open Interest in the April month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 742 units of Open Interest in the April month futures and Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 1,580 units of Open Interest in the April month futures. (Provisional).