Market watch: What does the F&O market suggest about trade on December 23?

The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 0.84 for the day.

The Indian equity market closed in the green for second day in a row. After underperforming for many days, the Indian equity market managed to outperform global peers in today’s trade. At the close of the trade Nifty ended at 16955.45, which is up by 184.6 points or 1.1 per cent from the previous close. In the final hour of the trade, interest emerged on unlock trade, which helped the market to gain. Nifty VIX also cooled off by 5.46 per cent.  

Activity on the F&O front for weekly expiry on December 23, shows 17200 to act as a strong resistance now. Highest open interest contract of 139367 stood at this strike price. The second-highest call option open interest 107440 for Nifty 50 stood at a strike price of 17300. In terms of the highest addition of open interest in the call options front, it was at 17150 in the last trading session. A total of 24963 open interest was added at this strike price.  

In terms of put activity, the highest put writing was seen at a strike price of 16800 (59304 open interest added on 22-Dec-2021), followed by 16900 (57091 open interest added on 22-Dec-2021). Highest total put open interest (103911) stood at a strike price of 16800. This is followed by a strike price of 16500, which saw a total put option open interest of 89301 contracts. 

The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 0.84 for the day. A PCR above 1 is considered bullish while a PCR below 1 is considered bearish. 

Max pain at the end of today's trade stands at 16900.