Indices end marginally higher on expiry; India VIX crashes over 7 per cent

Market update at 4 PM: Nifty filled the gap of 150 points but was able to bounce back from the support of 17,200 and ended marginally higher at 17,248. Sensex gained about 150 points at the end of the day. Moreover, India VIX crashed over 7 per cent on the day of expiry. 

The top gainers include Bajaj Finance and Infosys while Hindalco & Cipla turned out to be the top losers.  

Nifty once again tested 17,200 today and the support level stayed intact. However, selling pressure in Nifty was clearly seen and Nifty must close above 17,400 to show some strength. 

Market update at 1.15 PM: The first half of the trading session saw Nifty testing the 17,200-level once again and bouncing back from the key support level. Moreover, India VIX has fallen over 6 per cent. 

Nifty IT remains to be supportive of the market while Nifty Media and Nifty Pharma drag the market. The top gainers of the day include Bajaj Finance and Infosys while the top losers are Sun Pharma & Hindalco.  

Since it is the weekly expiry, we must expect Nifty to make volatile moves in the latter half of the session. 

Market update at 10.15 AM: Nifty opened 153 points higher today but witnessed selling pressure in the first hour of the trade. It now trades marginally higher at 17,250. Meanwhile, Sensex is up by 150 points.  

The gap-up has led to a fall in India VIX as it slipped over 3 per cent. Nifty IT is supporting Nifty and is up by 1 per cent. On the contrary, Nifty Auto and Nifty Media plunged over 1 per cent each.  

The advancing stocks are 837 while the ones declining are 943. Let's see whether Nifty will test the level of 17,200 once again or not! 

Pre-market update: Asian market opened higher on Thursday morning amid good global cues. SGX Nifty indicates an opening of about 110 points.  

Last night, Dow and NASDAQ ended higher on the pretext that US Federal Reserve might pave the way for interest rate hikes as it feels that the economy no longer needs any extra support. On this, NASDAQ rose over 2 per cent.  

On Wednesday, FIIs were net sellers again as they sold Rs 3,407 crore while DIIs were net buyers, purchasing equity worth Rs 1,553 crore.  

Natural gas soared almost 4 per cent while the precious metals slipped marginally down in the early hours of Thursday.  

With weekly expiry today, we must expect volatility to continue, and the initial hour remains important to see whether Nifty sustains the gap-up or is sold to fill the gap.