Market watch: What does the Futures and Options market suggest about trade on April 4?

The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 1.18 for the day.

The new F&O monthly series and new fiscal started on a positive note. Both the frontline indices posted their best weekly gains in last seven months. Nifty 50 opened at 17436.90 against the previous close of 17464.75. It closed with a gain of 205.7 points or 1.18 per cent at 17670.45. What helped the market to gain were HDFC Twins and Reliance Industries. Banking names including PSU were the major gainers in the market while pharma names underperformed. The volatility index cooled off and closed below 20 in today’s trade. Nifty VIX opened at 20.56 and closed at 18.435 with a loss of 10.33 per cent.

Activity on the F&O front for weekly expiry on April 7 shows 18000 to act as a strong resistance now. Highest call open interest contract of 87479 stood at this strike price. The second-highest call option open interest 79909 for Nifty 50 stood at a strike price of 17600. In terms of the highest addition of open interest in the call options front, it was at 18000 in the last trading session. A total of 35832 open interest was added at this strike price. 

In terms of put activity, the highest put writing was seen at a strike price of 16500, where 62284 open interest was added today, followed by 17400 strike price where (49986) open interest was added. Highest total put open interest (104486) stood at a strike price of 16500. This is followed by a strike price of 17500, which saw a total put option open interest of 100484 contracts. 

The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 1.18 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 for weekly expiry on April 7 stands at 17500. 

Top five call and put open interest with their strike price